376: Teen Eating Disorders, Early Signs, + How Parents Can Help | Dr. Lauren Hartman

Be Well by Kelly Leveque

Kelly Leveque

Nutrition, Education, Health & Fitness, Alternative Health, Self-improvement

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2026

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we talk about food, bodies, and health with our kids…and with ourselves. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Lauren Hartman to explore how parents can model kindness, trust their instincts, and help kids develop a healthy relationship with food without shame or rules. We talk about movement, social media, high sugar foods, and the small daily choices that shape how children experience their bodies. Whether you’re navigating mealtimes, worried about eating habits, or just want practical ways to support your child’s well-being, this conversation is full of insights you can actually use. We also touch on early intervention, balancing nutrition with life’s realities, and why rest, self-compassion, and awareness can make all the difference. → Leave Us A Voice Message! Topics Discussed: → How do I spot teen eating disorders? → Picky eating vs ARFID → What causes eating disorders in teens? → How should parents talk about food? → When should I worry about eating? Sponsored By: → Function | Own your health for $365 a year. That’s a dollar a day. Learn more and join using my link. Visit https://www.functionhealth.com/bewellbykelly and use gift code BEWELL25 for a $25 credit toward your membership → Be Well By Kelly Protein Powder & Essentials | Get $10 off your order with PODCAST10 at https://bewellbykelly.com. → Cozy Earth | Head to https://cozyearth.com and use code BEWELL for up to 20% off. And if you get a post-purchase survey, make sure you tell them you heard about Cozy Earth right here at the Be Well by Kelly podcast. → Timeline | Support your cells and how you age with Mitopure® Gummies from Timeline. Visit https://timeline.com/KELLY and save up to 39% off your Mitopure® Gummies. Timestamps: → 00:00:00 - Introduction → 00:02:04 - What are eating disorders → 00:04:32 - Eating disorders in boys → 00:06:22 - Why cases are rising → 00:09:40 - Dieting vs disordered eating → 00:12:59 - Early warning signs → 00:19:58 - Talking to your child → 00:24:10 - Eating disorder education → 00:29:28 - Personal backstory → 00:33:22 - Balance + rabbit study → 00:40:25 - Control and emotional eating → 00:44:26 - Eating disorder recovery → 00:50:07 - Preventing relapse → 00:52:09 - Sugar + processed foods → 00:55:55 - Talking to kids about food → 00:59:33 - Food freedom philosophy → 01:01:56 - Parenting legacy → 01:04:06 - Parenting lessons learned Show Links: → How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder (book) Check Out Dr. Lauren: → Freeing Children and Young Adults From Shame, Skills, and Stigma (book) → Website → Instagram Check Out Kelly: → Instagram → Youtube → Facebook

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's so important just to decrease the myth that eating disorders don't exist in boys.
0:05.2	So about a third of eating disorders present in boys. And that's all sorts of eating disorders.
0:11.5	What is like causing eating disorders? We see behavior changes before we see any physical changes.
0:16.8	People will start cutting out certain food groups. So maybe they used to eat carbs and now they don't eat carbs anymore.
0:22.8	Decreasing their food portions.
0:24.6	They used to eat breakfast and now they're saying, I'm not hungry anymore.
0:28.2	We'll see where they are avoiding social functions where food is present.
0:32.3	I already ate or not wanting to join the team dinner because it's hard to be there and have an eating disorder.
0:38.8	So really trying to avoid those things.
0:44.4	You're listening to Be Well by Kelly Leveck.
0:50.8	Dr. Lauren Hartman, I am so excited today to have you on the podcast. I think your education,
0:58.2	your experience clinically in eating disorders, and young adolescents, which I will get to,
1:03.5	but adolescent medicine I didn't even know was a subspecialty. So you're a double board certified
1:08.6	pediatrician with a specialty in adolescent medicine.
1:11.7	But today we're going to talk about eating disorders, which I think is such a important topic
1:15.9	and everyone's tiptoeing around it and you're not. You're writing a book on it. You're
1:19.8	pounding the pavement and beating your drum and you're giving parents the tools to support
1:25.7	their teens. So thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm
1:29.7	really passionate about this topic, so I'm so glad to have this opportunity to talk more.
1:34.4	Yeah, I feel like it, like I said, it's so taboo. People tiptoe around it. I really want this
1:39.9	episode to be all-inclusive in understanding like, you know, what causes an eating disorder?
1:45.5	What is a need? What's considered an eating disorder? Like, how prevalent is it? And then kind of
	...

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