Nourish & Hope provides compassionate, evidence-based support for both children with eating disorders and their parents — with completely separate experiences designed for each.
When you open the app, you choose your role. Parents and kids get completely different, age-appropriate experiences designed for each.
Evidence-based guidance, AI support, and community connection for parents navigating one of the hardest journeys of their lives.
A warm, age-appropriate space where young people can check in, find calm, read recovery stories, and write privately — without judgment.
Built from lived experience — every feature exists because a real family needed it.
An AI assistant trained to support parents of children with eating disorders. Available at 2am when no one else is. Parents only — never for kids.
15 conversation scripts for the hardest mealtime moments. Evidence-based tips based on Family-Based Treatment — the gold standard for adolescent EDs.
A completely private journal for kids with 12 therapeutic prompts. Entries are saved securely to their account — never shared or seen by anyone else.
A guided box breathing exercise with an animated circle — 4 counts in, 4 hold, 4 out. Proven to reduce anxiety in minutes.
The 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique — interactive tap-through cards that bring kids back to the present moment when anxiety feels overwhelming.
Links to vetted, moderated parent support communities — Around the Dinner Table, Alliance for EDs, Facebook groups, and FEAST.
Built from real lived experience — these tips and scripts come from families who have been through exactly what you're facing.
Serve meals at consistent times each day. Predictability reduces anxiety for children with eating disorders.
This is the eating disorder speaking, not your child. Stay warm, stay calm, and do not engage in arguments about food.
Gently keep your child with the family for at least 30 minutes after a meal. This helps prevent compensatory behaviours.
Talk about anything except food, eating, weight, or bodies. Normal conversation helps normalise the mealtime.
You are not the enemy. The eating disorder is the problem. You are fighting it together, not against each other.
"Dinner is ready. I'd love for you to join us. I know mealtimes feel hard right now and I'm here with you."
"You HAVE to eat. Get to the table right now." — This escalates conflict.
"I hear you. Your body might not be sending hunger signals right now — that's part of what we're working on. Let's sit together anyway."
"How can you not be hungry? You haven't eaten all day!" — This creates shame and argument.
"I know you're really angry right now. I love you even when you're angry at me. That's not going to change."
"How dare you say that." — Reacting to the words rather than the pain underneath them.
Knowledge is the first step toward healing. Learn about different types of eating disorders, common myths, and evidence-based therapies.
Characterized by restriction of food intake, leading to significantly low body weight and intense fear of gaining weight.
Involves cycles of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors. Often occurs at normal or above-normal weight.
Recurrent episodes of eating large amounts with a feeling of loss of control — without compensatory behaviors.
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder — limited food intake not related to body image concerns.
An obsession with eating "purely" that becomes extreme and interferes with daily life — often disguised as health consciousness.
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder — the most common diagnosis. Just as serious as other EDs and deserves the same level of care.
Eating disorders only affect thin teenage girls
Eating disorders affect people of ALL genders, ages, races, and body sizes. Someone can be in a larger body and still have a serious eating disorder.
Parents cause eating disorders
Eating disorders have complex genetic, biological, and environmental causes. Family involvement is actually key to recovery.
They could just eat normally if they wanted to
Eating disorders involve real changes in brain chemistry. Willpower cannot fix them, just as willpower cannot fix a broken bone or diabetes.
Eating disorders are not that serious
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental health condition. Early intervention is critical and can be life-saving.
Only people who are underweight need treatment
Medical complications from eating disorders can occur at any body size. Size alone is never a reliable indicator of the severity of an eating disorder.
It's just a phase — they'll grow out of it
Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that rarely resolve on their own. Early professional treatment leads to dramatically better outcomes.
The gold standard treatment for adolescent eating disorders. Parents take an active role in supporting their child and restoring healthy eating patterns.
CBT helps identify and change the distorted thoughts and beliefs that drive eating disorder behaviours.
DBT combines cognitive-behavioral techniques with mindfulness and acceptance strategies.
ACT focuses on accepting difficult thoughts and feelings rather than fighting them, while committing to actions that align with personal values.
Evidence-based tools kids can use independently to manage anxiety, difficult feelings, and distress in the moment.
Breathe with the circle. This animated guide helps regulate your nervous system in minutes.
4 counts in · 4 hold · 4 out
When anxiety feels overwhelming, use your senses to come back to the present moment.
Positive affirmations written specifically for recovery. Tap for a new one.
When feelings are intense, doing something — anything — helps break the cycle.
Recovery is possible. These people were once where you are now.
"Recovery taught me that my worth isn't determined by a number on a scale. I can enjoy meals with friends now and focus on my dreams."
"I'm a guy and I felt like eating disorders weren't supposed to happen to me. Asking for help was the bravest thing I ever did."
"Art saved me when words couldn't express what I was going through. Recovery is ongoing but I have tools now, and people who understand."
"I used to be terrified of food. Last month I went to a restaurant with friends and tried something new. Recovery is possible, even when it feels impossible."
"I thought I was being healthy. Recovery meant learning that no food is morally good or bad. Food is just food — and that took me a long time to believe."
"I still love running — but now I run because it makes me happy, not because I'm afraid of what happens if I stop."
Thousands of parents are going through exactly what you're facing right now. Connecting with them can change everything.
Official parent support groups run by eating disorder specialists. Moderated and safe.
Online & In-personThe largest online forum specifically for parents supporting loved ones with eating disorders. Based on FBT principles.
Online forumPrivate Facebook group for parents of children with eating disorders. Thousands of members sharing daily support.
Facebook groupFamilies Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders — a global network of family support.
In-person & onlineWe made deliberate choices about how AI is used in this app — guided by what's safest for vulnerable users, not what's most impressive.
We deliberately excluded AI chat from the kids section. Unsupervised AI interactions with vulnerable young people can be unpredictable. Instead we connect kids to trained human counselors.
Every AI response includes a clear reminder that Hope is not a medical professional and cannot provide diagnoses. Serious concerns are always redirected to qualified help.
The crisis helpline is accessible on every single screen — not buried in a menu. In a crisis moment, help is always one tap away.
After researching the risks of unsupervised AI interactions with minors in vulnerable situations, we made the deliberate decision to exclude AI chat from the kids section entirely.
This was a hard decision because AI chat is impressive — but the right decision is not always the most impressive one. Technology for vulnerable populations requires empathy, research, and the willingness to remove features that could cause harm.
Curated videos, playlists, audiobooks, and tools for parents and kids — all free and evidence-informed.
Hope is a compassionate AI assistant trained to support parents of children with eating disorders. Available 24/7 — ask anything that's on your mind.
Hope provides emotional support and general guidance only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical advice. Crisis support: 1-866-662-1235
Whether you're a parent who doesn't know where to start, or a young person who needs someone to talk to — help is available right now.