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"I'm, Like, SO Fat!": Helping Your Teen Make Healthy Choices about Eating and Exercise in a Weight-Obsessed World

"I'm, Like, SO Fat!": Helping Your Teen Make Healthy Choices about Eating and Exercise in a Weight-Obsessed World
By Dianne Neumark-Sztainer

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Hit the gym for a workout--but sit for hours at your computer. Supersize your value meals--but downsize your waistline. Today's media-saturated teenagers are bombarded with mixed messages that distort their self-image and lead many to overeat and others to starve themselves. When "I feel fat" becomes a teen's common refrain, how can worried parents respond constructively? With "I'm, Like, SO Fat!" Dr. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer shows parents how to strike the difficult balance between bolstering self-esteem and offering constructive advice. Drawing on her landmark study, Project EAT (Eating Among Teens), and her experience as a mother of four, Neumark-Sztainer offers a wealth of science-based, practical ideas for instilling healthy eating and exercise habits, educating teens about nutrition and portion size, and talking about body image. Here is a rock-solid foundation that parents everywhere can build on to help their teens stay fit, eat well, and feel good about their looks in a world where too-perfect bodies are used to sell everything from cosmetic surgery to fast food.


Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #336631 in Books
  • Published on: 2005-06-08
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 317 pages

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The pages of this book are packed with one good idea after another. In a scientifically sound and caring way, Dr. Neumark-Sztainer addresses topics that are central to the health and happiness of all girls and boys in their teenage years.”--Kelly D. Brownell, PhD, Director, Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders; author of Food Fight: The Inside Story of the Food Industry, America's Obesity Crisis, and What We Can Do About It

"Dr. Neumark-Sztainer is an internationally recognized expert on body image and eating problems in teenagers--and few scientists are able to communicate their insights in such a warm, understanding, and empowering manner. At every step, she offers realistic and thought-provoking suggestions for changes you can make to help enhance your teen's self-esteem and well-being."--Susan J. Paxton, PhD, School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Australia

"Dr. Neumark-Sztainer is a widely published researcher, a successful prevention specialist, and a gifted teacher. She is also a mother who has learned on the job how to strike a balance between active parenting, bite-your-tongue silence, and constant support for her children. This is an incredibly wise and helpful book for anyone struggling to give kids healthy messages about food, weight, shape, and exercise."--Michael P. Levine, PhD, Department of Psychology, Kenyon College; coeditor of Preventing Eating Disorders

"Dr. Neumark-Sztainer has integrated an impressive wealth of academic and practical knowledge into this comprehensive guide for parents. This is an exceptional and highly readable resource for dealing with the whole spectrum of eating and body shape preoccupation in teenagers. Suggestions for parents are sensible, doable, and grounded in current realities of family life. In an era of much confusion about body shape and weight, this book can serve as a powerful guide to raising children with a positive connection to healthy eating and their bodies."--Niva Piran, PhD, Counseling Psychology Program, University of Toronto, Canada

"For parents seeking to raise children who feel good about themselves and their bodies, this book is chock-full of helpful, practical information and insights. It will also be a valuable resource for health professionals and educators. Based on the research and wisdom of one of the country's leading adolescent nutrition experts, this book can help make a difference in the lives of teens and families."--Mary Story, PhD, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

"This remarkable 'how-to' guide can be characterized in one word: balance. Dr. Neumark-Sztainer balances practical advice for parents with scientific evidence to support it--and shows how to help teens take a more balanced approach to food and fitness. Delightfully clear, uplifting, and empowering."--Richard E. Kreipe, MD, Chief of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester Medical Center

"It is too late to help my daughter, Anna, who died of an eating disorder at 21. I wish this book had been available when she was younger, because I might have been better equipped to help prevent her illness. I suggest all parents of teens read this book--the result would be far fewer teens suffering from weight-related problems."--Kitty Westin, President, The Anna Westin Foundation

"A tour de force. Neumark-Sztainer breaks down the latest academic research findings on teenage dieting, fitness, nutrition, and eating disorders in a way that parents can feel empowered to talk with their teens about weight and body image issues without alienating them. Her hands-on advice to parents of teens is extremely uplifting without being dogmatic. This book is a keeper; one of those core books on parenting that is destined to become a classic."--Sharlene Hesse-Biber, PhD, Department of Sociology, Boston College; author of Am I Thin Enough Yet?


"The strong research basis of the book is impressive. Neumark-Sztainer brings the research findings and strategies to life with numerous examples and personal anecdotes from her own experience raising teenagers. The book is an interesting and easy read as the text is broken up by excerpts from researchers in the field, case examples, and text boxes containing specific strategies and tips for parents to try....This book is an excellent resource for parents looking for strategies on how to help their teenager (male or female) cope with eating or weight-related problems. It is relevant for all parents as it provides beneficial information for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and positive body image more generally."--Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Book Reviews

"The author packs the book with concrete, practical tips. However, she also takes care to avoid making parents feel overwhelmed....Neumark-Sztainer also encourages a flexible approach....This is an excellent book on an extremely important and timely topic, and a compassionate and practical guide for parents. I would highly recommend this book to any parent of children or teenagers, and I believe it could also be of interest to a range of health care professionals working with families who are seeking ways to improve their children's eating behaviors and physical activity."--The Academy for Eating Disorders Forum

"In this thorough and sensible book, Neumark-Sztainer...shows parents how to help their teens make wise food choices-now and in the future. With the blunt advice that one should never 'go on a diet,' the author stresses lifestyle changes, not quick fixes....The approach here is practical and not authoritarian; the author knows its difficult to ask teens to give up fries and large sodas....this book stresses health. Excellent. (starred review)"--Library Journal

"The book's overall message emphasizes size acceptance and self-acceptance. Whether one needs eating disorder support groups, centers, websites or other books, both the bibliography and resource section are thorough. It's a great resource book....The book can be used as a reference book, a workbook, or an outline....A book well worth obtaining for your library or your bed stand."--Eating Disorders

 "A wonderful book to guide parents through the triple threat of adolescent children in a food-toxic and weight-obsessed culture....This excellent book should be read by all parents with children of all ages who are interested in integrating healthy nutrition and physical activity habits into their children's and their own lives....Messages and advice on how to discuss this highly sensitive subject may also be helpful to health care professionals who regularly counsel families on the prevention and management of overweight and/or eating disorders."--Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine "Much needed direction and guidance....The book is grounded in the empirical research literature....Translates research findings into a wealth of strategies for parents to use with their teenagers as well as with themselves with the goal of positive modeling....The strong research basis of the book is impressive. Neumark-Sztainer brings the research findings and strategies to life with numerous examples and personal anecdotes from her own experience raising teenagers. The book is an interesting and easy read....The strategies are well-illustrated with examples as well as tips for implementation....Overall, this book is an excellent resource for parents looking for strategies on how to help their teenager (male or female) cope with eating or weight-related problems. However, it is relevant for all parents as it provides beneficial information for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle and positive body image more generally. In addition, the book provides some very good answers for clinicians who are commonly asked the question 'What should I do?' by parents of teens who are struggling with such issues."--Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Book Reviews


Customer Reviews

Good read, back well by research5
This book addresses the struggle in our society between the social pushes for weight loss, and the many driving forces backing our ever so evident obesity problem. The author writes in a casual manner displaying her experience as a mother herself, but supports her ideas well with research she has encountered on a professional front. Although the title is quite bold and may mislead some to believe the book to be a self-help guide to losing weight, it is not quite that, but rather on the contrary. The book interestingly explores the many apparent pulls in our surroundings encompassed by the broad topics of weight and self-image while not necessarily pushing for dieting as a means for dealing with weight issues. A must read for anyone interested in the prevalence of these topics and especially a good book for parents of teenagers.

Outstanding photography3
Excellent photography on the back cover makes this book as relevant for boys as well as girls. Addresses a dominant issue in our society today.