I love my children's schools. I also love their teachers. I am beyond grateful for the education they receive every day from brilliant educators who have helped my children truly love learning. I feel deeply grateful for the educators in this country.

I start with this statement because it's important to understand that what follows is not meant as criticism. Instead, this is an invitation, an opportunity for schools to include education about weight stigma in their curriculum.

I'd like to share a story from my forthcoming book. This story made me realize that schools and educators needed to be part of this conversation. I've changed all identifying details to protect privacy.

A 12-year-old girl, let's call her Lucy, was referred to me for a newly developed eating disorder. Before this disorder emerged, Lucy thrived in nearly every aspect of her life: earning straight As, securing a role in her school play, enjoying time with many friends, and excelling as a soccer player.

The catalyst for her disorder was a unit on nutrition in health class. Lucy described learning about "how bad sugar was for you," which she found frightening. Though she loved sweets, her desire to be healthy led her to make what seemed like a responsible decision: to eliminate sugar from her diet.

What began as cutting out candy quickly cascaded. Despite loving these foods, her commitment to being "healthy" drove her to systematically eliminate juices, fruits, cereal, cookies, muffins, bread, and pasta. Soon, her food options became........

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