Pont SJ, et al. Pediatrics. 2017. doi: 10.1542/peds.2017-3034. A policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics addresses the issue of stigma associated wtih pediatric obesity.  This is summarized in the following links:

• From Healio: AAP Empathetic Counseling Needed To Address Pediatric Obesity Stigma
• From NY Times: How Not To Talk to A Child Who is Overweight

An excerpt form NY Times piece:

Dr. Pont is one of the lead authors of a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics titled “Stigma Experienced by Children and Adolescents With Obesity.” The statement, published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics, advises pediatricians to use neutral words like “weight” and “body mass index” rather than terms like “obese” and “fat.” …

In a study published earlier this year in the journal Preventive Medicine, Dr. Puhl and her colleagues looked at the longitudinal effects of teenagers being teased about their weight. The study involved over 1,800 people who had been followed for 15 years and are now in their mid 30s…

“These teasing experiences have long-lasting implications for health and for health behavior.” For women especially, these adolescent experiences of teasing by peers or family members were associated with binge eating, poor body image, obesity, and a higher B.M.I. 15 years later, she said; for men there were some of the same associations, including obesity as adults, if they had been teased by their peers as adolescents…

Weight stigma does exactly the opposite; criticizing and inducing shame only make people feel terrible about themselves, not motivated or capable of making changes…

“Recognize that a child is far more than what their weight is, praise them for all the positives, so when we get to some of the more challenging topics, they can still maintain their self-esteem,”…

The most effective way for parents to help a child is to make healthy changes for the whole family, regardless of shape or size, Dr. Pont said. Try making small changes slowly, like adding one new green vegetable into the family diet, not keeping sugary drinks in the home or walking to school instead of driving.

Related blog posts:

• Can parents not know if their child is overweight?
• Six years later-Mediterranean diet comes out on top | gutsandgrowth
• Eliminating sweetened beverages to help obesity
• Childhood Obesity and Consensus Recommendations | gutsandgrowth
• “Negative Externality,” Splitting Checks, and Feeding Psychology | gutsandgrowth
• Sweetened Beverages -A Big Problem for Little Kids | gutsandgrowth

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