Eat Smart: A Guide to Good Health for Kids

Grade 6 Up-- Figtree opens with the first-person narration of an adolescent boy who loves skateboarding, baseball, and junk food. A weight gain is the beginning of his crisis in self-esteem, which lands him in the office of a nutritional counselor; there he and readers are provided with solid information on carbohydrates, fat, protein, water, fiber, and minerals, as well as the need for exercise. Written with a light touch and liberally illustrated with amusing sketches, the information is followed by a question-and-answer section in which the author's bias toward the holistic health movement becomes apparent. A collection of recipes is included, nearly all of which feature ingredients primarily available in health food stores. The book is easy to understand, even if many of the recipes are more than most adolescents are likely to undertake on their own. More appealing recipes along the same lines (although not vegetarian) appear in Kitchen Fun for Kids (Holt, 1991) by Jacobson and Hill. A better overall book on vegetarianism is Perl's Eating the Vegetarian Way (Morrow, 1980; o.p.). Gilbert's Fat Free (Macmillan, 1975; o.p.) offers a more traditional approach to weight loss. Spence's Nutrition (Facts on File, 1988) is an excellent overview. --Joyce Adams Burner, formerly at Spring Hill Middle School, KS
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.