We Need to Talk, with Toni Street: Christian Newman on Instagram, body dysmorphia and getting kids interested in exercise

Christian Newman and his husband Mark Edwards, chart their journey of bringing up their children Frankie and Lulu on Instagram. Photo / Instagram

In this episode of We Need To Talk, Toni Street catches up with Christian Newman, founder and half of the team behind Instagram page @lovefromyourdads.

Newman and his husband Mark Edwards, chart their journey of bringing up their children Frankie and Lulu on Instagram.

Newman exercises most days, going to the gym or boot camp during the week, and going for a run, a walk or a swim regularly too.

"I just don't think there's any excuse for fathers to not be in shape and looking after themselves, because I guess at the end of the day, if you are looking after yourself, you've got energy, you're able to look after your family and your kids.

"When you're tired, when you're grumpy, when you're overworked or just exhausted, then you can't look after anyone else. So really putting myself first is actually putting my kids and my family first and ensuring that I've got that energy."

Newman also spoke about body dysmorphia especially in the gay community, and his surprise at hearing of the number of young men being treated for eating disorders at Starship children's hospital.

"I said something along the lines of 'It's such a girls' issue'. Which is a gender stereotype and obviously I'd been proved wrong because she said, well funnily enough, let's say there was 20 people in there, she reckons 60 per cent of them were young males.

"And it made me think straight away how insanely awful the culture that we're even creating is, and it always makes me second guess when I do talk about things or post myself with a shirt off or whatever, because obviously I work hard and I want to be able to say 'oh you know I've been working hard' and show that I've got abs. Then what does it do to other people?"

Newman also shared his seven S's for wellness - including getting some sunshine, getting sweaty, having sex, sand at the beach, swim in the water, the sound of good music, and staying hydrated.

Listen to the episode here.

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