| Terms to avoid | Use instead |
| Obese, fat, chubby | - Unhealthy weight, excess weight, weight problem
|
| Diet | |
| Ideal weight | |
| Counseling approaches to avoid | Use instead |
| Discussion focused primarily on personal "bad" habits that lead to obesity | - Balanced discussion of genetic, physiologic, and environmental contributors to weight gain
- Acknowledgement that some people gain weight more easily than others
- Discussion of environmental factors that promote weight gain, such as readily available energy-dense foods
|
| Discussion centered primarily on child's weight, diet, and behaviors | - Discussion centered on family's health behaviors
- Discussion centered on changes the parent can make to help the entire family (especially for young children)
|
| Scare tactics* | - Balanced and realistic discussion of benefits of healthy eating and physical activity
- Discussion may include benefits of short- and long-term wellness and disease prevention without using scare tactics
|
| Goals focused on weight or appearance | - Goals focused on healthy behaviors and overall health (strength and feeling well)
|
| Endorsing food rewards or large rewards that are difficult to achieve | - Encourage parents to offer small, frequent rewards for meeting achievable goals
- Appropriate rewards include praise, tokens or stars, and activities or privileges (rather than food, monetary incentives, or toys)
|
| Criticism for not meeting goals | - Clinician and parents offer praise for healthy behaviors or for meeting any behavior goals (even if incomplete or intermittent)
- Offer problem-solving and encouragement
|
