Raising Resilient Kids: 8 Principles for Bringing Up Healthy, Happy, Successful Children Who Can Overcome Obstacles and Thrive despite Adversity

Mom’s Choice award-winner for Excellence!

As you reflect on how unavoidable life circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic may be influencing your children, family, and other loved ones, be encouraged by the compelling and inspiring vignettes shared in this work. Be empowered to have faith, set goals, and take action . . . to stay the course and enjoy many more decades of a joyful, blessed, and healthy life.

With so many “experts” touting different approaches to raising thriving children, how do you know which is the best one? Dr. Rhonda Spencer-Hwang, professor of public health at Loma Linda University and mom of three, had the same question. As a member of a community known worldwide for its health and longevity, often referred to as a Blue Zone, she decided to study the area’s many centenarians to find out what they―or their parents―did right in childhood to make them so resilient to stress, disease, and the adversities of life.

In Raising Resilient Kids, Dr. Spencer-Hwang reveals the intriguing findings from her research and offers eight principles for raising happier, healthier children who are equipped to flourish despite life’s inevitable adversities. Readers of Raising Resilient Kids will learn how to:

• Empower children with determination, motivation, and empathy
• Win over picky eaters and others who resist new routines
• Reduce negative stress and boost happiness
• Instill the values that motivate children to serve and help others
• Enhance academic performance through healthy habits
• Help kids begin to explore their passions and purpose.

Like so many other parents, I was overwhelmed by the endless bombardment of daily challenges, accompanied by heaping doses of exhausting stress. As a working wife and mother in a two-career household, dealing with the hectic scheduling demands and conflicts of three children, I found myself making one subconscious decision after another.

Fast food just this once. I’m too tired to cook.
A marathon of TV for the kids just today. It’s sure to settle them down.
Skipping church just this week. We’ve got so much to do.

Trade your parental exhaustion, guilt, and perfectionism for research-based practices to help you bring up hardy, happy children who can thrive throughout life.

Dr. Rhonda Spencer-Hwang, a professor of public health at Loma Linda University, lives in a community known worldwide for its health and longevity. As an epidemiologist and mom of three, she decided to study the area’s many centenarians to find out what they―or their parents―did right in childhood to make them so resilient in the face of stress, disease, and the adversities of life.

In Raising Resilient Kids, Dr. Spencer-Hwang reveals the intriguing findings from her research and offers eight principles for raising happier, healthier children who are equipped to flourish despite life’s inevitable adversities. Readers of Raising Resilient Kids will learn how to

• Reduce negative stress and boost happiness
• Enhance academic performance through healthy habits
• Win over picky eaters and others who resist new routines
• Empower children with determination, motivation, and empathy
• Strengthen resilience and be better able to fight off illness
• Instill values that motivate children to serve and help others
• Encourage kids to begin exploring their passions and purpose

The foundations of health, happiness, and hardiness are laid in childhood. Let Dr. Spencer-Hwang be your guide in creating family practices and rhythms that equip your children to thrive.