Lagom wins four-way auction for new guide from Dr Anna Colton on our relationship with food

Lagom, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK, has won a four-way auction to a new guide from Dr Anna Colton on people’s relationship with food.

Madiya Altaf, senior editor at Lagom, acquired world all-language rights for a five-figure sum to How To Talk To Children About Food, from Louise Leftwich at DML Talent, with Borra Garson taking over as agent while Louise is on maternity leave. It will be published 13th February 2025.

In her first book, clinical psychologist and eating disorder specialist Dr Colton "wants to help parents understand, navigate and manage their child’s complex food feelings, break their negative eating cycles and identify eating disorder behaviours and know when to intervene".

Colton has over 20 years of experience specialising in both adolescence and eating disorders, and regularly contributes to TV shows, both in front of and behind the camera.

Colton said: “We are all bombarded with conflicting messages telling us the ‘best’ way to eat and using labels like ‘super foods’ and ‘bad foods’, communicating fear around weight gain, fitness and health. Parents are led to believe that there is a right and wrong way to feed their children leading to anxiety, guilt and shame. I am now delighted to share my upcoming book to cut through the noise. It is a no-nonsense guide to understanding how we develop our relationship with food and how we inevitably communicate this relationship to our children. Packed with decades of clinical experience, child development, theory and case studies, it will help readers understand this complex area and break the intergenerational transmission of disordered eating.”

Altaf said: “We all grew up hearing phrases like ‘you can’t have dessert until you eat all your vegetables’ or ‘be grateful for your meal because other children don’t have enough’. Even these simple phrases can shape the way we view food, and so Dr Anna’s compassionate guide is essential; it will change the narrative on the way we speak about food and our relationship with it for the better.”