How to talk to your children about putting on weight

From Jamie Oliver’s ‘Food Revolution’ to the first lady’s national crusade, it seems that the issue of child obesity is everywhere. Clearly a major health issue, it is also a major self-esteem issue for children, which leads us to wonder: Is it possible to help our kids take off the extra pounds without giving them a complex?

Abby Ellin, is the author of “Teenage Waistland: A Former Fat-Camper Weighs in on Living Large, Losing Weight, And How Parents Can (And Can’t) Help.” Speaking from her own experience, she says shame is not the way to motivate children to slim down.

And Ylonda Gault Caviness, a longtime family and parenting journalist whose work regularly appears in Redbook and iVillage, insists on two rules above all others: abolish the “F word” (fat), and lead by example.