This book is written in everyday language for adults and children. In a country with obesity and anorexia so common, it's refreshing to have a down-to-earth explanation of what stresses a teenager (or pre-teen) faces, and a kind approach to working with some of these challenges.
One doesn't suddenly start eating a "perfect diet". We are, at times, fast food consumers, and Dr. Cederquist understands this, and opens your eyes to the healthier choices available at McDonalds, Arbies, Burger King, KFC, etc. She give concrete examples of healthy choices for many items from the grocery store, in selecting cereals, pizza, fish, desserts, lunch meats, potato chips etc., so one doesn't go into withdrawal!
Start, gradually, by following a more balanced diet in a day with less fats and sugars, and portion control. Read the food labels. Learn the calories in foods, with your children, then make healthy choices! Perhaps keep journals on food, often overlooked emotions, excercise, when helpful, and see the progress, and occasional fall backs. If the less healthy food's out of the home, it's not eaten!
When you and your child learn and actually use these facts and hints, it's easier to plan for success, avoid binges, eating out of boredom or from worry, etc., and still enjoy eating, only it's now with a healthier approach.
Today, start long lasting healthier habits, one page at a time, one simple day at a time.
Help your child eat wisely, live longer, (and perhaps get teased less), with this book's easy-to-follow directions.
Dr. Cederquist has the very rare brilliance to know vast amounts of material and to make it practical and clear.
Good luck to anyone who tries to improve on this work!
Combination Physician, Master Teacher & a Writer like this one come around rarely...
Solid emotional support is a crucial foundation, says the author of Helping Your Overweight Child, because the psychological and emotional stresses of obesity can be just as tough on kids as the physiological consequences. That's why she recommends that kids old enough to write should be urged to start keeping a journal, so that they can become aware of how they may use food inappropriately to deal with stress while they are still young. After all, our excuses and rationalizations get more sophisticated as we grow older!
While providing a concise and basic overview of all the health fundamentals, including a survey of 'Nutrition 101' and the obvious arguments for displacing TV-watching with exercise, Dr. Cederquist revisits psychological concerns often ' including the dynamics of family communication and suggestions for coping with an overweight child's tendency to binge or relapse along the path to better health. Along the way she dispenses helpful tips on environmental factors, such as restricting dining areas to a well-kept dining room or kitchen out of earshot of televisions and video games, and serving food from the stovetop in single portions so that second helpings are always farther than an arm's reach.
And while the author provides about twenty pages of healthy recipes for kid's favorites prepared in the home, she also faces the modern reality of childhood eats in America by providing complete nutritional breakdowns of all the foods served at junk food palaces like McDonalds, Wendy's, and Denny's, as well as standard grocery-store offerings. In each case, she lines up her 'better choices' (1 serving of Annie's Shells and Cheddar: 280 calories, 4 grams of fat) 'as compared to' the usual, unhealthier suspects (1 serving of Kraft Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese: 300 calories, 10 grams of fat).
At a concise 158 pages, this is a guide that will not overwhelm concerned parents with too much information while providing them with a serious but not overly stern guide to changing childhood eating habits. Since those habits are very likely to be rooted in psychological and environmental factors that influence the whole family, what proves to be healthy for the overweight child will likely benefit his or her siblings and parents as well.