Obesity is a problem more and more families are facing today. The number of children, particularly in the USA, diagnosed with being overweight or obese has grown alarmingly in the past couple of decades. Overweight and obese children may have a harder time with certain physical activities or be short of breath compared to other children. They are likely to have low self-esteem because of their appearance, and may be subject to teasing or bullying from their peers. But even more importantly, their health is at risk with an increased likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease, like high cholesterol or high blood pressure. For parents and families with obese or overweight children, the situation can be distressing, and it may be hard to objectively come up with a workable solution. If your child is struggling with weight problems, join me for this short read, and by the end of it, you will learn everything you need to know about childhood obesity and how to encourage your child to partake in responsible food and lifestyle choices for improved health. Included are pointers to remember when talking to your child and answering any weight-related questions he or she might have. This book will help you come up with an action plan, together with your child, to lead your entire family towards a healthier lifestyle.

Explains how to promote children's health, examines reasons for overweight youngsters, and offers easy-to-implement solutions that will get kids and parents in shape

Childhood obesity in the United States has tripled in a generation. But while debates continue over the content of school lunches and the dangers of fast food, we are just beginning to recognize the full extent of the long-term physical, psychological, and social problems that overweight children will endure throughout their lives. Most dramatically, children today have a shorter life expectancy than their parents, something never before seen in the course of human history. They will face more chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes that will further burden our healthcare system. Here, authors Jacob Warren and K. Bryant Smalley examine the full effects of childhood obesity and offer the provocative message that being overweight in youth is not a disease but the result of poor lifestyle choices. Theirs is a clarion call for parents to have "the talk" with their kids, which medical professionals say is a harder topic to address than sex or drugs. Urgent, timely, and authoritative, Always the Fat Kid delivers a message our society can no longer ignore.

The experts at America's 'Hospital of the Future' provide a comprehensive approach to helping parents control their children's weight while developing a healthy, active lifestyle. Studies show that as many as one in four American children is overweight, and childhood obesity rates have doubled since the late 1970s. Medical problems that doctors once saw only in adults aged 50 or older are now striking individuals in their 20s and younger, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, colorectal cancer, high blood pressure, asthma, joint problems, and arthritis. In this essential new book, a pediatric endocrinologist and a respected dietician present a step-by-step, medically sound, and achievable weight-control program that will benefit the whole family. Poor diet and sedentary lifestyles-as well as a lack of parental guidance-are at the root of this child obesity epidemic. Studies show that approximately 40 % of obese children will grow up to be obese adults. This book seeks to break this alarming pattern.

Children's health has made tremendous strides over the past century. In general, life expectancy has increased by more than thirty years since 1900 and much of this improvement is due to the reduction of infant and early childhood mortality. Given this trajectory toward a healthier childhood, we begin the 21st-century with a shocking developmentâ€"an epidemic of obesity in children and youth. The increased number of obese children throughout the U.S. during the past 25 years has led policymakers to rank it as one of the most critical public health threats of the 21st-century. Preventing Childhood Obesity provides a broad-based examination of the nature, extent, and consequences of obesity in U.S. children and youth, including the social, environmental, medical, and dietary factors responsible for its increased prevalence. The book also offers a prevention-oriented action plan that identifies the most promising array of short-term and longer-term interventions, as well as recommendations for the roles and responsibilities of numerous stakeholders in various sectors of society to reduce its future occurrence. Preventing Childhood Obesity explores the underlying causes of this serious health problem and the actions needed to initiate, support, and sustain the societal and lifestyle changes that can reverse the trend among our children and youth.