Simple Changes to Consider

• Forget the bathroom scale! It's not about losing weight—it's about making new family choices.
• Spend some time together playing outside each day. Find local playgrounds or parks where you can walk or bike together. Stomping in puddles is active fun, too, but on bad-weather days, you can put on a CD and dance or follow the teacher on a yoga or dance DVD. Your child will enjoy the time spent with you.
• Limit television and computer screen time to 1 or 2 hours per day (excluding homework).
• Prepare and eat dinner together at home.
• Try new things one at a time or in small amounts. If you don’t get much cooperation in the family, make the new change for yourself for a while. If you sincerely enjoy the change and believe in the benefits, they’ll catch on.
• Go to the farmers' market together to pick out fresh vegetables to prepare for dinner—or grow some vegetables of your own. Children like to eat sugar snap peas and tomatoes right off the vine.
• Drink more water and milk—and save sodas for pizza night.

"Rather than trying to make your child lose weight, focus on developing healthy family habits. Taking the Healthy Habits Quiz in the book will help you decide where to start."

Why is drinking soda getting so much attention?

The best change that my patients make is to limit soda and sugar-sweetened beverages—and to drink water instead. Most children in my clinic tell me that they drink 3 to 4 sodas or sweetened beverages every day. This is 24 to 32 ounces of sugary drinks or 800 to 1000 calories per day—half of what that child needs to eat for the day. No wonder parents tell me that it doesn’t really seem like their children eat that much. They are drinking half or more of their calories. My book shows you how to successfully make this healthy change.