Your Mind Your Body

A recent blog post from a pediatrician, which was also mentioned on the New York Times’ “Motherlode” blog, addressed the question“What do I do if my chubby kids say they are hungry?” Dr. Meeker raised some valid points in her post—what to do about your child eating too much food and why it’s important to set limits on screen time and provide easy access to healthy foods, among other things.

But Dr. Meeker may have provided some misguided recommendations when suggesting how to talk to children about their feelings of hunger. How we talk to our kids about hunger and help them understand it is not as simple as one may think. In fact, more harm than good might happen when people charge in and take total control over a child’s hunger without considering the child’s feelings, self-esteem or how the child thinks of herself.

Filed under: Children, Lifestyle & Behaviors, Parenting, Weight Issues | 4 Comments »

The latest string of bad economic news – long-term unemployment at record high levels, more foreclosures and few new jobs being created – spells continuing stress for many Americans and is contributing to their gloomy outlook about the economy. As a clinical psychologist, some of my patients tell me they feel like the folks who were trying to cap the oil spill in the Gulf–each day feels more disheartening and more overwhelming than the last. Being out of control to fix one’s life can quickly lead to anxiety, and even clinical depression, if left untreated.

Filed under: Lifestyle & Behaviors, Resilience, Stress | No Comments »

This week is Healthy Media for Youth Week (July 12-16), a week to draw attention to the impact that sexualized media images have on all of us, and in particular, girls and women. It also promotes national legislation to increase research, youth empowerment and media literacy programs, and create a Federal Communications Commission task force to help curb this serious issue.

Filed under: Children, Parenting, Women | 7 Comments »