Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor, and a Bottle of Ketchup [Paperback]

Laura A. Jana MD FAAP (Author), Jennifer Shu MD FAAP (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

Restore "peas and harmony" to the dining table with this comprehensive guide to building successful childhood feeding strategies. Focus is placed on the food-fight challenges parents are most likely to face—such as starting babies on solid foods, dealing with picky eaters, and making healthy food choices in child-care settings and restaurants—and a wide range of winning solutions are offered. More than a simple nutrition guide, this book also addresses the behavior and development issues surrounding the feeding challenges of early childhood. With a family-sized serving of useful advice and a generous helping of humor, this resource offers invaluable food for thought and real world advice that parents can use every day.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Food Fights presents a no-fuss approach to helping young children develop the healthy eating habits that will see them through a lifetime. Its delightful tone makes it a joy to read, and refer to, over and over again.”  —Elizabeth M. Ward, MS, RD, author, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feeding Your Baby and Toddler

“Food Fights gives thorough, practical, fun-to-read advice for parents as they tackle some of parenthood's most difficult challenges.”  —Claire McCarthy, MD, instructor in pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Boston, and contributing editor, Parenting magazine

“Food Fights should be mandatory reading for anyone responsible for feeding an infant, toddler or young child. In their characteristically easy-to-read, humorous fashion, these two pediatrician moms have created the perfect tool to help parents and caregivers instill healthy eating habits, avoid temper tantrums, dodge flying vegetables, and above all else—maintain a healthy attitude toward the nutritional challenges of parenthood!”  —Tanya Remer Altmann, MD, editor, The Wonder Years, and editorial board advisor, Healthy Children magazine

"Drs. Jana and Shu know their stuff! Their clever book and sound advice will help you and your kids eat, drink AND be merry!"  —Harvey Karp, MD, FAAP, author, The Happiest Toddler on the Block

"Food Fights presents a no-fuss approach to helping young children develop the healthy eating habits that will see them through a lifetime. Its delightful tone makes it a joy to read, and refer to, over and over again."  —Elizabeth M. Ward, MS, RD, author, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feeding Your Baby and Toddler

"Another fantastic guide from Drs. Jana and Shu! Food Fights helps parents find a realistic middle ground between what their child should be eating and what their child is actually willing to consume."  —Lisa Singer Moran, executive editor, Baby Talk magazine

"Food Fights should be mandatory reading for anyone responsible for feeding an infant, toddler, or young child. In their characteristically easy-to-read, humorous fashion, these two pediatrician moms have created the perfect tool to help parents and caregivers instill healthy eating habits, avoid temper tantrums, dodge flying vegetables and, above all else, maintain a healthy attitude toward the nutritional challenges of parenthood!"  —Tanya Remer Altmann, MD, editor-in-chief, The Wonder Years, and editorial board advisor, Healthy Children Magazine

"The authors of Food Fights have done a great job! This book will go far in continuing to help parents lay the ground work for excellent nutrition."  —Sandra G. Hassink, MD, FAAP, editor, A Parent's Guide to Childhood Obesity, and director, Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children's weight-management program, Wilmington, DE

"Encouraging, compassionate, and clear for its compelling nutrition messages, this book will be a comprehensive source of information for any parent trying to guide their children to healthy eating habits and lives. I especially like how the up-to-date nutrition information is translated into real life situations."  —Connie Guttersen, RD, PhD, author, The Sonoma Diet

"Food Fights makes it clear that raising children who are healthy eaters requires good role models for healthy eating. The tips provided throughout the book make it easy for parents to be those healthy role models."  —Connie Diekman, MEd, RD, LD, FADA, nutrition consultant

"Wonderful . . . sure to help anyone who has ever struggled to make the climb up the food pyramid."  —Emilio Arispe, MD, FAAP, pediatrician, Methodist Physicians Clinic, Omaha, Nebraska

"As pediatricians and moms, Drs Jana and Shu know that it's important to focus on good nutrition, but also to pick your battles. Food Fights offers reassuring and practical advice for parents who are worried about whether their kids are eating too much, not enough, or nothing green."  —Diane Debrovner, health and psychology editor, Parents Magazine

About the Author

Laura A. Jana, MD, FAAP, is the coauthor of Heading Home with Your Newborn, and an associate director of the Boys Town Institute for Child Health Improvement and the cofounder of The Dr. Spock Company. She lives in Omaha, Nebraska. Jennifer Shu, MD, FAAP, is the coauthor of Heading Home with Your Newborn, the editor of Baby and Child Health, and serves on the Parents magazine advisory board. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: American Academy Of Pediatrics; 1 edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581102445
• ISBN-13: 978-1581102444
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a kids-and-food book that makes sense!, January 9, 2008

By 

Denise Schipani "Denise" (Huntington, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor, and a Bottle of Ketchup (Paperback)

I just paged through Food Fights and I am so impressed -- and relieved! Impressed because Drs. Shu and Jana have managed to squeeze the HUGE topic of feeding kids into an easy to read book, and relieved that (for once!) I'm not being talked down to or lectured by experts. Their book is funny and wise all at once, plus it's a fast read, which are all great things for a mom. I'd recommend it to any parent, first time or veteran.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book for any New Parent, a great resource for pediatricians to suggest, May 9, 2008

By 

Scott Iwashyna (Richmond, Va) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor, and a Bottle of Ketchup (Paperback)

As a pediatrician and a new parent, I found "food fights" extremely helpful. It is a quicks read that gives practical information to parents about topics that stress us all out. I have started recommending this book to parents at all of our early well-child checks. It helps parents find answers to everyday feeding questions without having to call or wait for the next appointment, or feel like they are reading a textbook.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Preachy and condescending, December 11, 2011

By 

KPS - See all my reviews

This review is from: Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with Insight, Humor, and a Bottle of Ketchup (Paperback)

I'm afraid I didn't learn much; there are a few nuggets of wisdom but lots of filler. For example, did you know the reason your pediatrician weighs your child every visit is to chart their growth? You didn't? Well, thank goodness this book has a whole chapter telling you so. Their facts are sometimes iffy - if they don't have a citation, it's "many people" do this or "most people" believe that. The authors come across as preachy and agenda-driven. They appear to think all of us are clueless, lazy, and self-indulgent, with no idea how to eat healthfully ourselves. Worse, the book is really a parenting manual with an agenda, loosely disguised as being about getting your child to eat well. You should read your child books? Really? Thanks. Water makes them "pee"? Earth-shattering. Moreover, the writing is atrocious. You know those catchy subheadings you see in magazines? That. But so obscure as to be nonsensical. For example: "All Choking Aside" and "Gluten for Punishment." In short, this book has little to offer regarding feeding and nutrition. If you've been a parent for a couple years or so, and are sufficiently interested in this topic to be browsing these reviews, rest assured that nearly all the information in this book is already between your ears.