'Bluey' fans in the U.S. won't see a scene that sparked accusations of fat shaming. Here's what to know — and how experts say parents can discuss weight with their kids.

When the long-awaited batch of 10 new Bluey episodes hits Disney+ on Friday — several months after they originally aired in the cartoon's native Australia last spring and summer — families in the United States will finally get to catch up on the eponymous blue heeler's latest adventures. But they won't see everything.

While the beloved breakout hit has won awards and praise for tackling relatable scenarios and issues in a smart, loving and usually hilarious way, it faced rare backlash last year over how one episode — included in Part 3 of the cartoon's third series, which is only now streaming in the U.S. — addressed weight. In the episode "Exercise," which originally aired in Australia last April, Bluey's dad, Bandit, weighs himself on a scale while Bluey is in the bathroom with him. “Oh man,” Bandit says after seeing the results, going on to grab his stomach and say that he needs to exercise. His wife, Chilli, agrees.

As the Guardian reported last year, the show was accused of fat shaming and “normalizing negative attitudes about our bodies.” In response, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation issued a statement noting that the episode had been reedited to cut the scale scene, adding that a revised version would be used for global distribution, per the Sydney Morning Herald.

Though American viewers will be watching the revised version and may be none the wiser about the controversy over it, the episode has brought up plenty of questions about what is and isn't appropriate to discuss in front of children when it comes to weight. Here's what pediatricians and obesity experts think.

Is it OK for parents to weigh themselves in front of their kids?

In general, doctors recommend that parents be mindful of the topic of weight in front of their children, whether they're weighing themselves or talking about weight. “It is important to be sensitive about addressing weight in front of children,” Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician, scientist and associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, tells Yahoo Life. “You do not want children to be self-conscious about their bodies. They should be proud of who they are, regardless of their body type.”

Stanford notes that weight bias, which is negative attitudes and beliefs around weight, starts early in life. “Most children begin to demonstrate signs of weight bias at 36 months of age, which is influenced by parental attitudes,” she says.

Dr. Daniel Ganjian, a pediatrician and pediatric obesity specialist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., tells Yahoo Life that he recommends that parents don't talk about their weight in front of children. “Kids will take in what you say and may internalize the message inappropriately,” he says. “They can take it to an extreme.”

But Stanford says that parents don't necessarily need to avoid weighing themselves in front of children; they just need to be aware of the messaging around it. That said, “They should avoid this issue if they excessively weigh — for example, several times daily,” she says. “This would set up an unhealthy environment with weight.”

How to talk about weight in front of kids

The messaging around weight matters, Janet Lydecker, director of Teen POWER and clinical research training at the Yale Program for Obesity, Weight, and Eating Research, tells Yahoo Life. “Kids are drinking in everything their parents are doing in front of them like a sponge,” she says. “What we recommend is to focus on health.”

Instead of Bandit weighing himself and saying he needs to exercise (with the implication that it's because of the number on the scale), Lydecker says a better approach would be to say, “I'm feeling really tired or sluggish. I'm going to work on more physical activity.”

“That would have the same outcome but without tying it to weight,” she says. “We want to step away from weight being conflated with health. That's giving the number on the scale too much power.”

Lydecker says it's “even more important” to be aware of discussions about weight around teens. “We don't want to talk about weight, but we do want to talk about health,” she says. “We often talk about reframing any kind of discussion about weight that comes up with peers, pediatricians or anywhere in society and not connecting it to health.”

When it comes to exercise, it's best to focus on the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommended 60 minutes of physical activity for kids, Dr. Marisa Censani, pediatric endocrinologist and director of the Pediatric Obesity Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine, tells Yahoo Life. She recommends that parents get involved, too, to help encourage kids to be active.

“Parents exercising and engaging in activities together with their children help emphasize their importance,” she says. “It is also important to find activities that children enjoy and want to take part in.” She also suggests that parents encourage physical activity like walking to school or the bus stop, doing yard work and helping with chores.

“It is helpful to incorporate small amounts of exercise throughout the day but also put aside time for longer exercise sessions or physical activities that the whole family can enjoy together,” Censani says. “The goal is to make movement fun and enjoyable, as maintaining a balanced diet and physical activity are key in promoting a healthy weight.”

Despite the controversy, Lydecker says she's “pleased” that Bandit didn't talk about needing to go on a diet — something she also discourages parents from doing in front of their children. “That would have been a more disappointing response,” she says.

How doctors address weight with children

Currently, more than 2 in 5 American adults and nearly 20% of children in the U.S. have obesity, according to the National Institutes of Health. Obesity is linked to a series of serious health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

With that, doctors do take note of weight during pediatric visits, but they try to make weight as “neutral” as possible, Lydecker says. “This is usually practice by practice,” she says. “If the nurse or assistant who gets the weight can do it without commenting or saying the number, that's ideal.”

From there, pediatricians will usually speak to parents and children about their weight and height in terms of trends by using a growth chart, Censani says. “Rather than a particular weight on the scale, during childhood, we use body mass index percentiles, which are based on height, weight and age for males and females as children are growing and undergoing puberty,” she says.

Censani sees patients whose families are concerned about their height and weight, “but it is important to focus on the family as a whole and assess the medical risk of the patient in addition to family concern and motivation at the visit,” she says. “Pediatricians are particularly well positioned to discuss diet, nutrition and exercise with patients or their parents and are here to help support families on their journey to healthy weight,” she says.

Lydecker says it's often best if pediatricians talk about what's happening with a child's health and what could happen if weight goes in a certain direction that's concerning versus focusing on their actual weight. Overall, Stanford says, “the goal is to ensure equity and to treat patients with dignity, regardless of size.”

Stanford says that parents can set a good example for their children when it comes to weight. “Parents can work with their children by not hyperfocusing on the scale,” she says. “They should focus on healthy practices such as healthy eating [and] physical activity.”