Clinicians need to consistently remind parents that they are capable of guiding their child through eating disorder recovery via weight restoration by using their knowledge of basic nutrition to prepare calorically dense meals and establishing an eating schedule that encourages their child to consume food consistently.

While FBT therapists can offer guidance on what and when the patient should eat for optimal recovery, they generally should refrain from doing so if it is not necessary; frequent interfering with the patient's eating plan may erode parental self-efficacy and may lead to the family's over-dependency on the therapist.

Although family involvement is highest during the first stage of FBT, parents continue to oversee the quality and quantity of the child’s food intake in the later two stages of FBT and should thus be supported through the process of gradually granting more autonomy to the patient in Stage Two and Stage Three.