FBT Family Meal Plan (Phase 1)
The Maudsley phase-1 refeeding frame parents actually use
Family-Based Treatment (Maudsley / Lock & Le Grange) Phase 1: parents take charge of refeeding. This is not permissive, and it is not punishment. It is the loving, temporary, evidence-based authority that returns to the adolescent as weight and eating normalize. Use with an FBT-trained clinician.
- Parents choose, prepare, plate, and supervise every meal and snack.
- Full nutrition includes fats, carbohydrates, proteins — not "safe" foods only.
- Externalize the disorder: the ED is refusing, not your child.
- No bargaining, weighing, or calorie discussions at the table.
- Meal support is required from the first bite to a set completion time.
Weekly meal frame
Meal-support scripts
'I hear that this feels impossible right now. We're going to sit here together until it's finished.'
'That's the eating disorder talking, not you. We're not negotiating with it tonight.'
'No swaps, no deals. The plate stays as it is. I love you and we're going to get through this.'
'Thank you for eating. I know how hard that was. You just did something really brave.'
Medical red flags — pause & call the team
Fainting, chest pain, unable to keep any food or fluid down for 24h, heart-rate below clinician-set threshold, suicidal thoughts, or any new self-harm. FBT is not a substitute for medical monitoring.