Fed Up!: Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity - Softcover

Okie, Susan

3.83

23 ratings by Goodreads

9780309101981: Fed Up!: Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0309101980 ISBN 13: 9780309101981

Publisher: Joseph Henry Press, 2005

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Once dismissed by the medical profession as a purely cosmetic problem, obesity now ranks second only to smoking as a wholly preventable cause of death. Indeed, it's implicated in 300,000 deaths each year and is a major contributor to heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and depression. Even conservative estimates show that 15% of all children are now considered to be overweight--worldwide there are 22 million kids under five years old that are defined as fat.

Supersized portions, unhealthy diets, and too little physical activity certainly contribute to what's making kids 'fat.' But that's not the whole story. Researchers are at a loss to explain why obesity rates have risen so suddenly and so steeply in the closing decades of the 20th century. But head out to the beaches, playgrounds, and amusement parks, and it's obvious that overweight children are more numerous and conspicuous.

We see it in our neighborhoods and we read it in the headlines. Our nation--indeed the world--is in crisis. But knowledge is power and it's time to arm ourselves in the battle to win the war on obesity. Fed Up! is just what the doctor ordered. Based in part on the Institute of Medicine's ground-breaking report on childhood obesity, this new book from family physician and journalist Susan Okie provides in-depth background on the issue; shares heartrending but instructive case studies that illustrate just how serious and widespread the problem is; and gives honest, authoritative, science-based advice that constitute our best weapons in this critical battle.

Table of Contents

Front Matter
1 The Fattest Generation
2 Obese Twins and Thrifty Genes
3 Size, Health, and Self-Esteem
4 Teaching Children How to Eat for Life
5 Off the Couch and Away from the Screen
6 Programming Babies for Health-Before and After Birth
7 Eating Lessons at School
8 Finding Help for an Overweight Child
9 Action for Healthy Communities
Resources
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap:

"I loved FED UP! I couldn't put it down. Dr. Susan Okie has written the most important book of the decade on children's health. Every parent, teacher, doctor and civic leader will be inspired to focus on the epidemic of childhood obesity. It is sophisticated on the science—what we know—and practical on what parents and their communities can do. It is so optimistic—describing talented educators and communities' innovative strategies to get our children to eat better and move more. I put it down and immediately made a long list of colleagues, family and friends I want to send it to. Bravo." -- Donna E. Shalala, PhD, Former Secretary of Health and Human Services and president of the University of Miami "Nothing is more essential to overcoming the childhood obesity epidemic in America than knowledge. Our families need to know how to live healthier and more active lives in these fast-paced and demanding times. Susan Okie's FED UP! is just what this doctor orders. Every parent should buy this book." -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist, M.D.

About the Author:

Susan Okie is a family doctor and award-winning journalist for the Washington Post. She is also contributing editor to the New England Journal of Medicine.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.