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\\u201cOur children are learning by watching us. We are so important to what they believe and what they think about themselves.\\u201d

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Dr. Yami (19:28-19:36)

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Dr. Yami\\u2019s tagline is \\u201cpediatrician on a mission\\u201d, and for good reason. This powerhouse mom, pediatrician, public speaker and author wants children to grow up with a healthy body image and relationship with food that sets them up for success.

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Dr. Yami Cazorla-Lancaster knew she needed to find better solutions for her patients when so many of them were coming in with allergies, chronic abdominal pain and signs of not feeling well based on their dietary choices. Not only was Dr. Yami noticing issues with patients that just weren\\u2019t right for pediatrics, she also has been keenly aware of the body image and body confidence issues kids struggle with.\\xa0

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Going through her own struggles starting at eight years old, Dr. Yami began a dieting roller coaster that lasted a few decades and created disordered eating that interfered with her wellbeing, mental health and stole productivity from her life. Even her own son started dealing with the same issues, like wanting a flatter stomach at the age of six, so Dr. Yami started learning about plant-based nutrition, intuitive eating and lifestyle medicine.

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\\u201cI really want my patients, I want my children, I want myself, I want to feel good about the choices I\\u2019m making and I want to feel confident in my body.\\u201d Dr. Yami (6:24-6:31)

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It\\u2019s bad enough that most adults are worried about \\u201closing those last 10 pounds\\u201d and trying to control what our bodies look like, but the fact of the matter is our kids are being trained to think this way starting at a young age. This is why Dr. Yami has started teaching her patients the benefits of intuitive eating.\\xa0

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Intuitive eating, originally founded by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, is quite simply \\u201chonoring hunger and satiety\\u201d.

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Children have their own intuitive eating intelligence that gets chipped away when we try to change their natural eating habits. Kids don\\u2019t want to sit down for long, European-like meals because they\\u2019re filled with curious energy and would rather be exploring or playing. As parents, we tend to get anxious that our kids aren\\u2019t eating enough when they sit down for dinner and only take a few bites from their plate. So, what do we do? We create rules around food, we bribe them, and encourage them to ignore their intuitive eating habits.\\xa0

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This may calm your anxiety as a parent, but it only paves the way for a child to have disordered eating and an unhealthy relationship with their food and body. You may be wondering how you can get your child to eat more fruits and vegetables instead of unhealthy snacks.

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\\u201cThe only way to learn to like a food is through consistent and repetitive exposure.\\u201d Dr. Yami (28:31-28:38)\\xa0

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Dr. Yami\\u2019s advice is to keep exposing your child to healthy, nutritious, whole fruits and vegetables, but don\\u2019t force them. Think about how you acquired the taste for alcohol or coffee, for example. These drinks have very strong, bitter flavors, but somehow we end up enjoying them. That was because we had a deeper buy-in for liking them and it happened over repetitive exposure.

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Know that your role as a parent is to decide what to serve, where to serve it and when. The role of your child is to decide how much they are going to taste today, if at all. It might take up to twenty times of putting broccoli on your child\\u2019s plate until the decide to taste it! Let go of the outcome and know that you aren\\u2019t a failure if your child doesn\\u2019t eat what you put on their plate for the first, second, or even tenth time.

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We also have a responsibility as parents to develop a healthy body image ourselves. Our kids are watching us constantly and pick up on certain cues that tell them we don\\u2019t have a good relationship with our body. Every time you say something negative about your body, or constantly check yourself in the mirror, your child thinks they need to do the same thing. If it\\u2019s hard to create a positive conversation around your body, keep it neutral to start! Know that you don\\u2019t have to be perfect as a parent and you don\\u2019t have to have a body shaped by society\\u2019s standards.

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Make sure to pick up a copy of Dr. Yami\\u2019s book, A Parent\\u2019s Guide to Intuitive Eating: How to Raise Kids Who Love to Eat Healthy, on Amazon and visit www.veggiefitkids.com for more helpful tips on how to encourage healthy body image and a love for fruits and vegetables with your children.

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How to get involved

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!\\xa0
• Reach out to us - we\\u2019d love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.\\xa0

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If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we\\u2019d love for you to help us spread the word!