Welcome to ‘Dear Laura’ - a monthly column where I fashion myself as an agony aunt and answer the questions that readers submit. If you’d like to submit a question for me to answer next month - then you can leave it as a comment below or submit it here.
I’m happy to answer Qs about anti-diet nutrition, developing a more peaceful relationship to food and weight-inclusive health, annoying diet trends and news stories, body image challenges, and, of course, challenges with feeding your kiddos. Please give as much detail as you’re comfortable with and let me know if you’d like me to include your name or keep it anon.
Please remember that these answers are for educational purposes only and are not a substitute for medical or nutritional advice; please speak to your GP or a qualified nutrition professional if you need further support. (I have a limited number of family nutrition spots available - if you’d like to work with me then you can email hello@laurathomasphd.co.uk to book a preliminary call to see how I might be able to help you.)
Today I’ve got three questions for you; the first is whether there’s anything to this seed oil hysteria, the second is how to support a 10 yo who has come home saying that sugar is a drug, and the third is a question about high-protein snacks for kids.
Let’s do this!
Dear Laura...My 10 year old has come home from school telling me that sugar is a drug. Apparently her teacher told her this, and it has been backed up by several of her friends. I explained that it’s not true, and that lots of people think sugar is bad for our bodies but that it's just food, and there’s nothing wrong with eating it. I also explained that our brains can’t work without glucose. However, it didn’t stick. She’s at that tween age where friendships are starting to become super important; and she has some weird innate respect for authority that means her teachers will always hold a lot of sway with her, so she believes her teacher and friends over me. Do you have any advice for how I can explain this stuff to her/age appropriate resources I can share with her? She is neurodivergent and has slow processing, so long explanations are unlikely to be helpful. I’d really appreciate your thoughts.
Well fuck man. I am so mad at that teacher for you. Here's a little something you could send them if you think they'd be receptive to a conversation.
One thing that isn’t clear from your question is if this belief about sugar being a drug has translated into your daughter avoiding or restricting foods with sugar in them? The latter would be more concerning for me. But if she is just parroting something she has heard from a teacher or her friends, but is still happily enjoying ice cream and cookies, I'd be inclined to let it slide for now. Otherwise we inadvertently risk turning it into A Thing.
If you have noticed her restricting sweet foods, I’d be thinking about ways you can signal to her that sweets are a regular part of our food lives; whether that’s baking together, going for an ice cream when the weather is good, or just having a chat over a cup of tea and some custard creams. She can of course decline to join in, but I would be thinking about having a conversation about how we don’t judge or comment on other people’s food choices. If she’s open to it, you can gently start talking about how much of a shame it would be if we couldn’t enjoy these foods, and talk about the role of diet culture in making us feel guilty about what we eat, and for making us feel ashamed about our bodies.
If you notice any more concerning behaviours, like further restricting her diet, increasing exercise, weighing herself or body checking, on indeed any weight loss, these would be red flags for me. If you see any of these it would be worth considering if she needs professional support (it doesn’t sound like it from your question, but it’s important to mention).
As a general point though, rather than trying to debunk the sugar narrative, I’d be thinking about how we can build up and support her body esteem, and begin connecting it to the bigger picture of social justice. Given that she’s neurodivergent, I’m guessing you’ll have already started conversations about celebrating and respecting differences. How can you build on this? Here are some resources that could help open up these conversations, especially if she it otherwise closed off to being 'lectured’ by a parent 🫠 God speed.
Dear Laura...Please can I ask about the hype around seed oils and how they are claimed to be horrendous for us…is it another trend that people are jumping on?
It sure fucking is.
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