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Thriving Together: Healthy Parents Healthy Kids

• Parenting Genie

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Discover the art of fostering a healthy lifestyle for your family with Dr. Nick Fuller, author of "Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids." Dr. Fuller, who leads a weight management service at the University of Sydney and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, joins us to share his expert advice on creating sustainable habits around food, exercise, and sleep. Learn why traditional diets often fail and how a balanced approach can lead to lasting health benefits for both parents and children. Plus, get Dr. Fuller's favorite quick recipe—a vegetable-loaded family pie—that's nutritious and delicious.

Family mealtime isn't just about eating together; it's a cornerstone of healthy living. We delve into practical strategies for meal planning, involving your kids in cooking, and making shared dinners enjoyable. Discover the numerous benefits of eating together, from improved social connections to better appetite regulation. We also discuss the natural tendencies of children to be picky eaters and how involving them in the kitchen can encourage them to try new foods. Moreover, we explore the holistic approach to family wellness, emphasizing the importance of diet, exercise, and sleep for overall health.

Wrapping up our episode, we discuss the pros and cons of homemade versus pre-packaged baby foods and share tips on choosing healthier convenience options. Dr. Fuller underscores the critical role of positive parental modeling and shares insights from his Interval Weight Loss project, which helps adults manage their weight through evidence-based care. Don't miss Dr. Fuller's heartfelt message from his book, emphasizing health and family connection over material gifts. Tune in for practical parenting tips and inspiring stories that will make your journey towards family wellness more joyful and manageable.

Thank you for listening to Parenting Genie Podcast. For more parenting information, visit our website https://parentinggenie.com.au. or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter @parentinggenie.
We value your feedback, so please feel free to reach out to us via email at admin@parentinggenie.com.au.

Carey Donohoe:

Hello and welcome. This is Carey from Parenting Genie, your go-to source for all things parenting, from the joys of pregnancy to the challenges of raising a vibrant five-year-old. Every Tuesday we dive deep into pregnancy and then on Thursday we switch gears to cover everything about parenting. Rest assured, we're committed to providing you with loads of insights and expert advice every week. Hi everyone, it's Carey, from Parenting Genie. We have a very special guest on our podcast today and I must say we feel very honoured and privileged to have him on our show, especially because he's taken the time out of his very busy schedule to come and chat with us today. So let's all give a very warm welcome to Dr Nick Fuller.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Hi, nick let's all give a very warm welcome to Dr Nick Fuller. Hi, nick, hello Carey, thank you very much for chatting to me today. I look very much forward to tackling a few different topics.

Carey Donohoe:

Right, well, thank you so much for being on our show Now. Dr Fuller, you have recently written and published a very well-researched book called Healthy Parents, healthy Kids. Now I have read this book and I found it to be very insightful and easy to read, and not to mention the 100 family focused recipes. The kids and I have made a couple of these recipes and they just love them, especially the muffins.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Oh, that's so good to hear yeah.

Carey Donohoe:

So, dr Fuller, can you please tell us a little bit about your professional background?

Dr Nick Fuller:

Sure Well, thank you for tell us a little bit about your professional background. Sure Well, thank you for your kind words. I'm very glad to hear that. To put everything into perspective, I work day to day at the University of Sydney in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Now in this facility is a joint collaboration in Charles Perkins Centre, where we run Australia's largest weight management service. So we're working with adults who are struggling with their weight, but we're also working um with with children, pediatrics and, importantly, intervening at the family or parent parent level yes, because what we want to do is set up the next generation so that they do not have that lifelong struggle with weight and health which many of us are going through.

Dr Nick Fuller:

The data shows that two in three people are actually struggling with their waistline. They're out there trying to do something. As a parent, parent-to-be grandparent many of you will relate to that weight struggle. Grandparent, many of you, you know, will relate to that weight struggle. So what healthy parents, healthy kids, does is translate the evidence-based care around what you need to be doing with food, exercise and and sleep health, so that you can give your child children the best chance possible, so that they then don't have that lifelong struggle and, you know, never have to worry about weight and health and develop a healthy relationship with things like food, exercise and sleep, because in many ways, we have overcomplicated it in the mundane environment. This is all about winding it back, equipping you with that evidence-based care so you can implement some practical tips in in your family household wow that.

Carey Donohoe:

That's great, because diets don't work, do they? You know, people are just on that treadmill of dieting and that's really not a good way to approach health no, absolutely look.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Not I mean look. As adults, many of us are going through that sort of self-directed weight loss journey and it doesn't. Our research at the University of Sydney shows it doesn't work. You will get short-term weight loss success, but unfortunately your body goes into shutdown mode. You end up going back to your start point and putting on even more weight than you lost, and this is not something we should be pushing on to our children, our child.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Dieting and food restriction should never be discussion or the topic in the family household. This is all about implementing healthy habits. Because even if you have a child, that's, you know, in an overweight or an obesity range which doesn't really mean that much we still don't put them on a diet, we still don't start restricting their food habit, food intake. What we do is start improving food habits, start improving relationship with exercise and sleep health so that they can then find their optimum set point, which is that body weight we're most comfortable being at set point, which is that body weight we're most comfortable being at. So that's a very important message that, if you know, you're you're ever told it's from a family, a friend, a colleague, a health care professional to start restricting your diet, your child's diet, food intake. It's the wrong advice, it's not what we're advocating.

Carey Donohoe:

It's all about implementing these, these healthy habits, and you know in, in particular, the key foundations of healthy lifestyle being exercise, food and sleep yeah well, dr fuller, what is your go-to recipe, um that you know, if you haven't got a lot of time to to make, and what would you sort of whip up quickly? What would be your favorite recipe?

Dr Nick Fuller:

look, believe it or not, it's actually something like a family favorite. You know, a pie you can still make a pie healthy, substituting things like pillow pastry, yeah, and also you're loading it up with all of those nature's treats like vegetables. You're loading it up with all of those nature's treats like vegetables and when you mix those flavors together with a protein source like a meat, you know, believe it or not, kids actually love it. They do. They love pies, they do, they really do love pies and it's one of those family favorites that we're starting to say oh no, is it actually bad? Because it's, you know, it's got pastry and you know, people, I guess, are led to believe because of the dieting industry messaging that certain foods are bad for us, certain foods should be taken out of our diet. This is all about, you know, bringing it back to the basics and breaking down all of those barriers and misconceptions around food and science.

Carey Donohoe:

Yeah, that's great. Can you tell us a little bit about the journey that led you to write Healthy Parents and Healthy Kids? What sparked your interest in family health right from the word go?

Dr Nick Fuller:

Well, we know that we can get it right by intervening at the parent level, by intervening through the family, household. This is where it all starts. We know the only difference between a healthy lifestyle and an unhealthy lifestyle is the environment we choose.

Carey Donohoe:

Now in the case of modeling their parents, aren't they?

Dr Nick Fuller:

that's right. Yeah, yeah, and, and you know, really, the parents are the environment. Yes, when we look at our children and they absorb everything that we do. They watch every move that we make, and this goes not just for food, but also how we absorb and engage technology, how we move and behaviors, how we intertwine activity or exercise into our day-to-day life. And and remember that, monkey, see, monkey do if you start role modeling good, positive behaviors, over time they will adopt them, embrace them and they'll become automatic in in the family household, because what we want to do is make parenting easier for you. When it comes to healthy habits, at the moment it's a real struggle when we see parents mealtime is something they dread at the end of the a real struggle.

Dr Nick Fuller:

When we see parents meal time is something they dread at the end of the day yeah, they're really struggling with food fussiness, overcoming that food fussiness and getting kids to eat those nutritious foods that we spend time cooking for them, getting them away from devices and out outside enjoying outdoor, play, um and, and you know, I guess restoring um a lot of those healthy habits that we may have had when we were young children but we're not implementing nowadays as parents. So, yeah, look, there's a lot of different factors at play and I don't want to take away what factors are at play.

Carey Donohoe:

Do you think what? Why aren't families adopting a healthy eating pattern and lifestyle?

Dr Nick Fuller:

I think the biggest thing is that is the environment in which we live. And look, I don't want to take away from the efforts of the parent in a mundane environment. I know how hard it is as a parent very, too strong, very strong will boys and they're always going to push back at times. They're always going to tell you certain foods are yuck or that they don't want to eat what is presented or that they want that screen. But if you're starting to see mealtime as one of these, fill them up and get them out type scenarios. Unfortunately you are contributing to that next generation of obesity, diabetes, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. This is what we want to prevent.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Remember Now, we're all time poor in the modern day environment but, mealtime is one of the most important things and we know, by getting children involved in food, actually tapping into that curiosity that they all have, and over time you start to see them embrace that food in food, actually tapping into that curiosity that they all have and over time you start to see them embrace that food that you're presenting them.

Carey Donohoe:

Yeah.

Dr Nick Fuller:

And it doesn't happen overnight, but it does happen. So what I mean by this is everything from choosing one day a week where you meal plan, so for all time. Paul, the best way of dealing with that is actually meal planning for the week, choosing some recipes with your children yes, making them feel in control yes. And then when you're cooking throughout the week this is not about cooking meals for everybody, separate meals for every family member. It's about cooking one family meal.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Yes, sit down and enjoy around the dinner table, because we know that when we have dinners in front of the TV, they last anywhere from four to seven minutes. When we have a dinner around the dinner table, it lasts anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes, believe it or not, and that depends on the age of your children, obviously, but there's so many benefits of sitting around the table from a social and cultural perspective. But also your appetite regulation system, which is what we want to tap into. We want to allow you know the signals to be sent from our brain, our stomach, to our brain, telling us we're full. And there's a lot we can learn from children. They eat very slow, yes, and as adults, we eat quite fast, so we should be watching them and slowing down our eating as well, but sitting around that dinner table and also getting them involved in the cooking process. And this is not about cooking those Michelin star recipes that none of us have time for. This is about cooking those family favourites.

Carey Donohoe:

And that's what was really good about your book. The recipes in there are just quick and easy. And I'd like to add I think it's really important to all sit down at the dinner table together and eat. I think it's really important to all sit down at the dinner table together and eat. I think it's probably one of the most important things that you know families can do is eat together at the dinner table, just, you know, for connection as well, rather than just sitting in front of the TV.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Oh, definitely, like kids love nothing more than your attention, exactly. But we sort of come home and we're scrolling on phones, we're turning on TV is the first thing we do. Yeah, this is about like you know. One practical tip might be just don't turn that TV on If you don't have a dining table set up. Set one up, get around that dinner table and wind back the clock and, you know, I guess, reinvigorate that mealtime because it can be a real energetic time, a time to look forward to. But at the moment, we know that most parents are dreading it. They're struggling with food fussiness, they're struggling to get their kids to eat. The tantrums are out of control at that time because they're exhausted, shattered from a day of daycare or school.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Oh I know Kids, kids love. They do love food and they do actually they're curious about food, so get them involved even in the cooking process yeah, something as simple as mixing and stirring yeah I love that they do when they've contributed to that meal.

Dr Nick Fuller:

We also know they're more likely to actually try it. They're more likely to say, hey, I contributed to this meal. Yeah, I want to. I want to taste, yes, um, taste that meal and have it with my family. And remember, you're going to be now eating that meal in front of them, with healthy parents, healthy kids, so they're going to see you eating those nutritious meals and we're eating one meal. We're not defaulting back to what they give in. They are requesting, yes, and what they're demanding and that typically is the white or beige food diet, right, the sweets and the sugars yeah, and even those you know, plain white refined carbohydrates the

Dr Nick Fuller:

ones that children feel comfortable around. This is why, um, they're requesting them, they, they, you know, fear, change they, I guess a difference in the diet, because, again, you're introducing new flavours, changes and we evolve to seek out foods in certain ways, and I guess that's, you know. Another thing to really highlight Kids are always going to push back on those vegetables because tens of thousands of years ago, we evolved to leave those in the environment. They're the bitter-tasting foods that are potentially harmful and toxic to our health. So we left those. Plant foods, yes, but we would get the sugar foods, the high-fat foods, the ones naturally high in sugar and fat and that are found in the environment as nature's treats. So, the fruits, the berries, the fruits, the berries, the papaya, the nuts and the seeds, the avocado, honey, yeah, they're great foods and again, the dieting industry have made us, led us, to believe that certain foods are bad for us. These are the very foods you should be providing your children in large amounts exactly that.

Carey Donohoe:

Industry is just terrible. Your book outlines six steps to total family wellness. Can you briefly summarise these steps for our listeners?

Dr Nick Fuller:

Yeah. So look, remember, we've got three key pillars of a healthy lifestyle, and that is not just food, it's also exercise and sleep, sleep we know that they play equally contributing roles. It's about a 33 percent, 33 percent, 33 percent. So we're not just fixating on the food, yes, and it's something we typically do as adults. We say, oh, it's 80 food, 20 exercise. Well, that's all nonsense and we can get into the reasons why those other ones play an important role. But coming back to your question, it is broken down into six simple steps. The first one is health, not weight. We're not fixating on weight. We're not worrying about our children that are tracking outside a healthy weight range, and I have that inverted commas. It doesn't mean anything. Um, every child will have their own unique body shape.

Dr Nick Fuller:

We don't fall exactly you know yeah, we don't fall within this perfect continuum across a lifespan, so you've got to. You know this is all about again just implementing health habits and never talking about weight and negativity negative limelight in a family household. Now the second one is about retraining our brain. If we've got young kids, it's particularly easy. Reach for nature first. Remember we evolved to seek out those foods, but in the modern-day environment we're getting that high from processed and fast food. It's become the everyday occurrence.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Oh, I know, Kids are screaming out for that processed and packaged food, but there's a boundary we have to start setting here. We have to start saying no most of the time. We have to still allow them their favorite treats, but the once a week, not the every day, yeah, and we've got to offer the nature's treats. We've got to set up the family homes that they're in the household, because kids really do love those nature's treats.

Carey Donohoe:

The fruits, yes, um, and there's no limit in terms of how much fruit you can be providing, or so the two pieces of fruit a day and all of that rubbish we've been led to believe, you know?

Dr Nick Fuller:

you are spot on as you want you have as much fruit as you want, and particularly because, remember, they're not going to be eating a lot of the vegetables because they're pushing back on those. These are the bitter tasting ones that we learn to leave in the environment.

Dr Nick Fuller:

They're more likely to have them when we start mixing them in the recipes, like the pie example we gave, where we bring out the natural sweetness. Now the other point or principle is around full rainbow, offering the full, you know, range of foods. We're not cutting out certain foods or food groups which, again, the dining industry have made us, yes, led us to believe. Um, whole grain carbs play such an important role. So to healthy fats, protein sources, dairy products. It's about offering continuously a wide variety and remembering that children don't say yes on the first occasion. It often takes some seven occasions, so that's a lot of broccoli heads or carrot sticks on the ground.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Assistance that's exactly right. And not giving in, because if you give in they will get their way. And what I mean by that is you've cooked a delicious family meal and then they're demanding the chicken nuggets. If you do that, you're not offering that nutritious meal, they're not going to get the same nutrition from that white beige food diet and also you're not going to overcome that food fussiness which many children do overcome with positive role modelling, Exactly Now. The next one relates to meal time.

Dr Nick Fuller:

We touched on this briefly before sitting around the meal the dinner table together, having a meal, enjoying it together. It is getting them involved in cooking, getting them involved in setting up the dinner table and sitting around and giving them your full attention and turning off all technology Now. The next two relate to exercise and sleep health. You've got to give opportunity to play. Play every day is what we like to like to say.

Dr Nick Fuller:

There's nothing more that kids love to do than you go outside and yeah, yeah and jump around playing the playground, kick a ball, go for a bike ride, go for a walk, whatever it might be. You have to find what it is that your child, or children love, and offer different environments so that you can find out what it is, because not all children love all sports or love all exercise, but they do.

Dr Nick Fuller:

You will find something that they enjoy yes and then the last thing is about screen time showdown. We have to get, yes, or develop a new relationship with screens, and many of you might be saying what screens got to do with health. Well, we know that screens have a huge flow on effect and I'll quickly sum this up as best I can. Basically, when you're using screens of an evening, they're emitting blue light. They're often the last thing we use before we go to bed, which means they suppress melatonin production in the brain, so it's telling your child it's daytime instead of nighttime, which makes it a hard time for them to fall asleep and then, importantly, stay asleep. They wake up, sleep deprived. The tantrums start early, yeah, um and sugary foods they're great, exactly, exactly and they.

Dr Nick Fuller:

We also know that when we take blood samples after a night of sleep deprivation, our, our appetite hormones are going haywire.

Dr Nick Fuller:

So the ghrelin level, which is the hunger hormone acting on your brain telling you to go and eat. Well, that's actually higher after one night of sleep deprivation and that means you're going to feel hungry, your child's hungrier, you're hungrier. The poor food choices start early. You're looking for that high, so you're more likely to make oral lifestyle choices, go to the vending machine, the corner store, and you're also less likely to engage in exercise and activity because you sleep deprived and lethargic. So sleep health cannot be neglected, it can't be overlooked and it does start with the devices, which is what we're using just before we go to bed yeah, it's a complete snowball effect, really, isn't it?

Dr Nick Fuller:

you know it is and look, it's one of the hardest things to really regain control over. If you have young children, it is easier because you can sort of have hard and fast rules no, no tv, no devices, no screens in the bedroom.

Carey Donohoe:

If you've got older children, it is about setting a plan with them so they feel in control of these decisions that are being made, and educate them on why you're making these changes in the family household, for everyone that's exactly because if you do that, yeah, they feel empowered do you think it's also important to role model that as well, because as parents, you know, sometimes we'll say no to the children, you need to be off devices, but then you may be on them yourself or have them in the room yourself. Do you know what I mean, especially the older children that you're, you know, trying to manage with the screen time. I think it's probably important to model that, that behavior with the carry your act.

Dr Nick Fuller:

You're spot on. I mean, we know that it all starts with the parent, and again why we intervene through the parent level. Um, you have to put down the device. If they see you on the screen, on the tablet, watching the TV, whatever it might be on the mobile, what do they want? The device, they want to be in control, they want to. So again, monkey, see, monkey, do so. It all starts with you.

Dr Nick Fuller:

So the minute you get home from, say, a day of work or a day of parenting, whatever it is, the first thing you need to do is tuck away the phone, put it in a drawer so it's out of sight, out of mind, and you give them your full attention. So this means no more scrolling on the phone when you're cooking the meal or even while they're having their bath time or play time. This means giving them your full attention so that they can get back. You know all of those positive behaviours that come from that. So the relationship does start with you.

Dr Nick Fuller:

And, look, many of us have negative relationships with screens. This is why, not only when you get home, you've got to tuck it away, but also have an hour or two before bed for the whole family where there's no screen. So this means you've got to replace that old habit with a new positive behavior, and that might mean helping them with the whole homework, it might mean going for a stroll together. It really depends on the age of children, the season of the year, but there's so many things you can be doing at that time of the day that does not involve screens, because otherwise you look around the lounge room everyone's sitting there on their own devices and no one's talking to one another.

Carey Donohoe:

It's so common, isn't it? How do families integrate these wellness steps into their busy lives without feeling overwhelmed?

Dr Nick Fuller:

Yeah, look, it's important to focus on one thing at a time. If you go and try and overhaul the whole family household from day one, it's just like a diet. This all or nothing approach does not work. It's all about doing and working on one thing at a time and doing it in conjunction with your children or your child, so that again they feel in control of those decisions. If you've got younger children, particularly less than five years of age, it is much easier. They're much more malleable.

Dr Nick Fuller:

That's right, so much growth and development going on within the brain. But look, it's about choosing one thing. So one example could be the screen time showdown we just talked about. So setting that hard and fast rule for yourself where you tuck the phone away when you get home, but also where you have one to two hours before bed. We're now going to change that old behavior with a new healthy habit for the whole family and then, once you've mastered that, you can move on to the next one. It might be the mealtime one, where you're going to sit around the dinner table and start embracing mealtime as one unit Again. That's going to conquer the food fussiness that we're all battling with. It's going to make mealtime look like something you look forward to as opposed to something you dread. Then you move on to the next thing. And the next thing Remember over time you will have then mastered these six healthy habits and regained a new relationship with food, exercise and sleeping in the family household.

Carey Donohoe:

But it just doesn't happen overnight no, that's right, you've got to give it time. Do you have any success stories of people that have implemented your six steps?

Dr Nick Fuller:

um, look so many. We we work with thousands of people, um, with our hospital clinics, and this is why, you know, I'm very passionate about translating evidence-based care, yeah, um, and, and putting it out there so that, in this case, healthy parents, healthy kids is about equipping parents with the right information, breaking down a lot of that, the barriers when it comes down to knowing what is right and wrong advice. This is just about presenting science and research in a practical way so that you can implement it in your family household.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Now, one example I'd like to highlight is yes is a family where you know, unfortunately this does happen, and it happens quite, quite often, but they're tracking along. They've just hadn't had a recent, recent great news they've got a baby.

Dr Nick Fuller:

The baby's now, uh, six months old they're going to their regular checkups but they're told and this is outside of our clinical setting they're're told that their baby, their child, is overweight, that they're not in a healthy weight range and that they need to start thinking about the food intake. They need to start restricting their intake so that they can get them back. That's right, so they can get them back onto a healthy weight range. Now this is wrong advice that you might get from a GP, a family health nurse.

Carey Donohoe:

Yeah.

Dr Nick Fuller:

And this is why it is important to ignore it because, again, remember, we all grow and develop in different ways and what we must not be doing is restricting our child's intake and putting them on a diet, because they're extremely good at regulating their appetite. Yes, they're extremely good at regulating how many calories they have across the course of the day. So if they're screaming out for more milk, they need more food.

Carey Donohoe:

God, I would say it would be very dangerous to do that.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Yes, it's very dangerous to restrict and to start worrying about your child's weight. Now what will typically happen is you know you might have a child in that 85th or 95th percentile overweight or obesity, according to a an age for weight chart. But then when they start moving and when they start, you know, crawling and walking their weight actually returns into you know what would then be considered a healthier weight range or a healthy weight range, however we define it so it's important never to panic, particularly during those first couple of years of life.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Yes, as long as you're providing, and this is particularly relevant when you start introducing solids around four to six months of age, depending on when they're developmentally ready to do so. But it's about offering nature's treats. It's not about offering and wiring their brain to process and fast food, because children can't say no to those foods. They have a hard time regulating in their appetite when you provide foods that are low in nutrition, high in added sugar, high in added fats that's the same for adults.

Dr Nick Fuller:

This is why we can always say yes to the dessert, but, you know, even though we've just had the main meal. So it's about offering nature's treats. If you're doing that, they're very good at regulating their appetite. If they're calling out for more food, listen to them that's exactly they will tell you when they're, when they're hungry, and this is why they will eat large amounts of volume, some large amounts of food at some meals and they eat like a sparrow at the next that that's all normal, isn't it?

Carey Donohoe:

yeah?

Dr Nick Fuller:

what would you?

Carey Donohoe:

say about you know cooking. We're talking about baby foods. So cooking fresh baby foods at home, compared to buying the supermarket pouches or baby tins or jars of food. What would you look this?

Dr Nick Fuller:

comes back to our point that we discussed right at the start. One of the biggest challenges is how time poor we are. Now. If you have time to cook foods from scratch and then provide the correct consistency for the age of your child, um then great. Uh, but not all of us have the time for that.

Dr Nick Fuller:

So this is where you know, some convenient pre-packaged meals do come into play pouches, jars of food but what you're looking for is ones that contain ingredients that you're familiar with. So, for instance, if it's a pouch that contains vegetables, it should be 100 vegetables. Water should not be the first ingredient. Yeah, it should be 100% vegetables. Water should not be the first ingredient. It should be, for instance, the sweet potato or the carrot or the spinach, or whatever it might be, and there shouldn't be a long list of ingredients that you do not know what they are.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Okay, so it's perfectly fine to offer those foods, those pouches and those jarred foods, as long as they are 100%, you know, fruit, vegetable fruit, vegetable meat, whatever it might be, and that there's not all of these added ingredients that you're not familiar with. And also, water shouldn't be one of the or should not be the first ingredient appearing, because ingredients appear in terms of uh, descending order, of how much is in that particular meal pouch jar that you're buying. So, coming back to your question, look, they do play a role for convenience in the Monday environment, particularly for time-poor parents or a time-poor parent. This is about working with you, know your I guess limitations and realising that there are better options when it comes to those convenient foods.

Carey Donohoe:

Right, yeah, are there any projects or ideas you're excited about exploring after this book?

Dr Nick Fuller:

Look, absolutely, I also work in the adult weight management space. Now, that is because, as we alluded to at the start, two in three people are struggling with their weight. Yeah, unfortunately, they're out there in that dieting world. They're doing something about their weight. Particularly women are very good at putting that up their hand and trying to, or acknowledging that they have a problem, but unfortunately, buying into diets and they're doing more harm than good.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Yeah, our body shuts down when we diet and then it fights the weight loss. It takes you back to the start point you put on the plus GST. This is why you don't get long-term results. You just end up heavier than before you started. And this is where a lot of my other research and translation comes into play around a product called Interval Weight Loss. Now, this is definitely not to be mixed up with children. Remember the messaging around children, children around child is about healthy habits. Yes, um, and even for as an adult, when you're implementing healthy habits, you will regain control of your uh, your health and your weight as well. Yeah, but IWL is one of those other projects I'm particularly passionate about in terms of translational medicine so that people can, you know, follow evidence-based care and regain control of your, of their weight as well.

Carey Donohoe:

Wow, well, we're starting to run out of a little bit of time. We've probably got another five minutes or so. Dr Fuller, I really would love to read a paragraph out of your book that really resonated with me. Are you okay if I read that out?

Dr Nick Fuller:

That would be lovely.

Carey Donohoe:

Let me find it Okay. There are many wonderful things that a parent can do for their child. They can buy them the latest iPhone, they can take them on a holiday to the beach, they can provide financial support for their university degree and they can even help them with a deposit for their first house. These are all kind and generous offerings, but the sum of all of them combined does not equate to the gift of true health, and I would say health and connection, you know. So I just loved that paragraph. It just really resonated with me. You know, and you're right, you've just got to turn off the phones, off the technology, you know, and be with your family and be connected. That's all a part of you, do you know?

Dr Nick Fuller:

the health is so important and without health, really we don't have anything and we do need to set up the next generation. Remember this is about setting a healthy environment for our children because, remember, we are the environment that, as parents, and whether you're a parent, to be a parent, now even a grandparent there's so many different ways in which you can apply these healthy habits in the family, household, um, and and just realize that it's, it's not necessarily going to happen overnight, particularly if you've got older children.

Carey Donohoe:

Yes.

Dr Nick Fuller:

But it does happen If you've got young children or your parent-to-be, and you can get it right from the very start. Well, it's so much easier. You really are wiring their brain to a path of long-term success. Yes, and this is what it's all about.

Carey Donohoe:

Yes, and the modelling of the behaviours? It really has to start from the parents, doesn't it? Positive modelling, oh definitely, definitely.

Dr Nick Fuller:

And you know, as we said, monkeys see, monkeys do. They're always watching you Every move you make, particularly around food, particularly around exercise, and how you're engaging with technology, which is, remember, affecting our sleep health. So you've got to lead by example, and when you do that, you're going to start getting health improvements. You will notice significant improvements within yourself. So that's something also to highlight and realise that you know we'll come with time.

Carey Donohoe:

Well, dr Fuller, it's been a pleasure to have you on our show. This book is just fantastic everybody. Well, dr Fuller, it's been a pleasure to have you on our show. This book is just fantastic everybody, well worth getting. And if you'd like a copy of this book, dr Fuller, where can people buy a copy of your book?

Dr Nick Fuller:

Look, hopefully you'll find it at your local bookstore and you'll find it everywhere online, but also at your local library, if you prefer to mine. You'll find it everywhere online, but also at your local library, if you prefer to mine. You know, I've been to a few libraries for a few different talks and it's there. So you know, I encourage you to hopefully read the information, equip you with the evidence-based care so you can, you know, start implementing in the family home Fantastic.

Carey Donohoe:

Well, thank you again, dr Fuller. It'll be great to have you back on the show sometime, but you take care and thank you so much for this book. It's just awesome and being on our show today.

Dr Nick Fuller:

Thank you very much for your kind words.

Carey Donohoe:

See you later. Bye, Carey, here signing off. Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. We're looking forward to hearing from you, so please don't hesitate to send us your questions and the topics you're eager for us to explore. Join us next time for more tips and stories that make parenting a joy. Until then, happy parenting and see you in the next episode.