How To Talk To Your Kids about their Weight

It's one of the many issues that parents wish they didn't have to address. But if your child is suffering with a weight issue, approach it delicately.

Health experts say that when you are talking to your kids about obesity, it's best to focus more on the topic of healthy foods than body weight.

Parents walk a fine line when talking to their kids about food. On one hand, obesity is so out of control that the American Medical Association has classified it as a disease. Over a third of young people in the U.S. are overweight or obese.

But on the other hand, anorexia is considered the third most common chronic illness among adolescents.

According to findings published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, when parents talk to their kids about weight, the kids are more likely to diet whether or not they're overweight.

Most eating disorders begin in adolescence, and kids appear to be vulnerable anytime their weight is mentioned, even when it's presumably supportive in nature.

But experts say when a parent emphasizes HEALTHFUL EATING, it appears to positively impact adolescents' behavior more than talking about weight.