Parenting for Positive Body Image with Charlotte Markey, PhD

Body image scientist and researcher Charlotte Markey, PhD joins us to discuss the many factors that impact body image and how parents can help their kids develop a positive sense of self.

Christy and Charlotte both share examples from their own parenting, including how to handle tricky conversations about body size, gender, and more. They also unpack the difference between body positivity and body neutrality—and why the popular definitions of those terms are different from their use in research.

Behind the paywall, Charlotte explains how she thinks about makeup for girls, adaptive vs maladaptive grooming routines, ways to tell if a kid is struggling with body dysmorphia, and a six-step process for helping young people develop media literacy.

This episode is cross-posted from our other podcast, Rethinking Wellness.

Charlotte Markey, Ph.D., is a body image scientist and researcher, having studied all things body image and eating behaviors for nearly 30 years! She is passionate about understanding what makes us feel good about our bodies and helping people to develop a healthy body image and relationship with food. Charlotte is a psychology professor at Rutgers University and has published over 100 scholarly articles and chapters about health issues.

Dr. Markey also an author, having most recently published The Body Image Book series (The Body Image Book for Girls in 2020; The Body Image Book for Boys in 2022, Adultish: The Body Image Book for Life in 2024, The 2nd edition of The Body Image Book for Girls will publish in 2026, The Body Image Book for Women will be published in 2027). She also recently co-edited the 3-volume Encyclopedia of Mental Health (2023). She writes regularly for news outlets such as Psychology Today and is often interviewed for TV, news articles, and podcasts.

More from Christy:

Check out Christy’s three books, Anti-Diet, The Wellness Trap, and The Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, Binge Eating & Body Image Workbook for a deeper dive into the topics covered on the pod. 

If you’re ready to break free from diet culture and make peace with food, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

For more critical thinking and compassionate skepticism about wellness and diet culture, check out Christy’s Rethinking Wellness podcast! You can also sign up to get it in your inbox every week at rethinkingwellness.substack.com.

Ask a question about diet and wellness culture, disordered-eating recovery, and the anti-diet approach for a chance to have it answered on Rethinking Wellness. You can also subscribe to the Food Psych Weekly newsletter to check out previous answers!

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