"Parents are sometimes surprised to hear that there is such a thing as being overly understanding or overly empathic, and that this sometimes can make it harder for kids to take steps towards change. So you just want to be careful of sometimes going too heavy on the empathy and too light on maybe trying to encourage them to make changes. And, on the other hand, showing too little empathy will really make it hard for kids to feel understood about what it's like to struggle with weight, and could make it harder for them to make some changes that they would like to be trying to do."