The Bottom Line
Pros
- Useful, sensible information
- Promotes lifestyle change for the whole family, not short-term fixes
- Quizzes, checklists, and Q&As make information accessible and easy to use
- Nice design and imagery
- Contains Weight Watchers points value for recipes
Cons
- Advice is common-sense: Good and useful, but not exciting or fresh
- Title has a demanding tone that doesn't match the book's friendliness
Description
- Advice and tips on nutrition, physical activity and play, parenting techniques, and communication
- Lists "five simple rules" for attaining and maintaining a healthy weight
- Resources and advice apply to families coping with obesity and those already at a healthy weight
- Includes over 75 recipes, with nutritional information and ways for kids to help
Guide Review - Weight Watchers Eat! Move! Play!
Weight Watchers, a trusted name in sensible dieting and weight maintenance, has a new book especially for parents. It's Eat! Move! Play!: A Parent's Guide to Raising Healthy, Happy Kids, written by Stacey Colino and published by John Wiley & Sons. The advice you'll find here is not revolutionary or ground-breaking, but it is useful, relevant, and realistic.
The book begins by outlining the "Weight Watchers Five Simple Rules for creating a healthy-weight home." These are:
- Focus on wholesome, nutritious foods.
- Include treats.
- Limit screen time (excluding homework) to two hours or less per day.
- Try to be active one hour or more per day.
- The rules apply to everyone in the home.
See? Nothing you haven't already heard; but that's because this advice is healthy and it works. The book includes specific advice to back up each rule and explains why each one is important. In subsequent chapters, you'll find more detail on each of these topics (for example, a collection of kid-friendly, healthful recipes).
The book is packed with quick, helpful bites of info, such as quizzes, checklists, and Q-and-As. I particularly liked the lists of "10 Healthy Messages To Send Kids." There's one about body image, one about eating, and one about moving. There's also a section on "Watching Your Words" that, while not exactly stern, should prompt some parents to take a close, honest look at how their attitudes are affecting their children.
Unless your family is already extremely fit and active, you'll find advice here that you can put into practice right away—and enjoy the healthy benefits for years to come.
