Ep 66: Parenting Beyond Diet Culture with Oona Hanson

July 22, 2025

Love You More

Ep 66: Parenting Beyond Diet Culture with Oona Hanson

Episode summary:

Grab your coffee and settle in for a heartfelt conversation with writer, educator, and parent coach Oona Hanson to explore how diet culture affects families, especially boys, in today’s appearance-focused world. Oona shares personal and professional insights, including her own child’s experience with an eating disorder, and reflects on the often-overlooked body image pressures boys face around fitness, leanness, and muscularity.

Oona offers compassionate, practical advice for parents raising sons who may be internalizing harmful cultural messages. From gym culture to restrictive “healthy” eating, she helps parents spot red flags and respond in ways that support their child’s well-being. She encourages families to build resilience and stay connected in the face of challenges.

More about Oona:

Oona Hanson is a nationally recognized writer, educator, and parent coach who supports families navigating diet culture and eating disorders. With master’s degrees in Educational Psychology and English from California State University Northridge and Middlebury College, and an undergraduate degree from Princeton, she brings a rich academic background to her work.

Oona has worked as a Family Mentor at Equip Health, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to treat children with eating disorders, and she founded Common Sense Camp to help parents teach essential life skills to kids. She has been featured on CNN, People, USA Today, and The Washington Post, and she has presented at major professional conferences and published in academic journals.

Favorite Quotes:

“We’re so steeped in diet culture that we don’t even recognize it. It’s like the air we breathe or the water we swim in. And that makes it harder to spot when something is going wrong.” - Oona

“Your body isn’t the problem. The culture is the problem. And not everyone knows that bodies come in all sizes.” - Oona

“It’s tempting to rush in and fix it, but we actually need to sit with our kids in their discomfort. That’s how they know they’re safe with us.” - Oona

“We are influencers too. If we want our kids to feel good about their bodies, we have to work on feeling good about ours.” - Oona

“Being anti-diet is not anti-health. We can support our kids’ well-being without sending them down a restrictive path.” - Oona

Resources:

Oona’s Website
Oona's Instagram
Oona’s Substack- Parenting Without Diet Culture
Zoe Bisbing's Website- Body Positive Home
Zoe Bisbings's Substack
Freedom App
Ellyn Satter Institute

Substack
Jennifer's Instagram
McDaniel Nutrition Therapy Instagram
McDaniel Nutrition Therapy Website

Support the show