Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children: What Our Kids Go Through - And How We Can Help (Paperback)

by Sylvia Rimm Ph.D. (Author), Eric Rimm Sc.D. (Author) "Overweight children are too often the outcasts, lepers, and untouchables in our middle and high schools..." (more)
Key Phrases: very overweight children, adult interviewee, overweight boys, The Influence of Families, United States, Lonely Health Nut (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dr. Sylvia Rimm is a welcome voice of calm and reason--someone who offers practical advice, with almost immediate results. She's a guardian angel for families who need a little or a lot of guidance." --Katie Couric, host of NBC's Today show

Product Description

Helping your child through a weight problem doesn't have to be a long, difficult process. In Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children, Dr. Sylvia Rimm, one of America's most trusted family psychologists for more than 20 years, cuts to the heart of the issue with simple advice you can use today, even as you are still searching for ways to help your child lose weight.

You will discover:
* How to coach your child to success, rather than judge his shortcomings
* Why overweight girls feel pressure to have sex at an earlier age than their friends--and how to protect them
* How to set guidelines for television and computer time
* Ways to keep your child from getting bullied at school
* Conversations you can have with your child's siblings to get their support

Plus, meet dozens of adults who overcame their childhood weight problems. These real people show you the simple strategies that their parents used to help them to success--ideas you'll want to use in your own family, such as:
* Focusing your child on her strengths to take the sting out of getting teased at school
* Helping your child find the right clothes to fit in with her peers
* Using a special-interest camp or exercise group to build positive peer relationships
* Identifying other adults who can build your child's self-esteem
* The best ways to praise your child

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books (August 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594862397
• ISBN-13: 978-1594862397
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #79,792 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From The Critics, March 29, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Our Overweight Children: What Our Kids Go Through-And How We Can Help (Hardcover)

From The Critics
Library Journal
While many manuals address how to help children combat weight problems through diet, exercise, and family lifestyle changes, none has tackled in-depth their emotional lives until now. Child psychologist Rimm (See Jane Win) compiles results from her national survey of middle-school children, personal interviews, case studies, and other international research to help readers understand the psychological well-being of overweight children. After demonstrating the extent of this public health epidemic, Rimm outlines how these children feel about their poor social interactions, low school achievement, lack of athletic prowess, and troubling family relationships. In many ways, the results are not profound. Still, addressing the emotional aspects of this issue is paramount to the future of these children and to the future of American public health (as discussed in Chapter 2). Drawing on her findings, Rimm provides an important six-step rescue plan to guide parents in helping their overweight children overcome discrimination and acquire a healthier lifestyle that will lead to greater achievement and higher personal expectations. Strongly recommended for all libraries;

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's more to it than taking away sweets . . . , August 11, 2006

By	45mph K-9 (IOWA - Go Hawks!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Our Overweight Children: What Our Kids Go Through-And How We Can Help (Hardcover)

Have you ever noticed that "skinny" people say you just need to quit eating fattening foods and exercise more! Well, there is more to it than that. This book goes into the emotional side of why some kids eat too much & what they endure because of it.

My daughter and I both struggle with weight. We've tried limiting what she eats & getting her to exercise more. However, the more we pressed it, the more she saw it as a punishment & an attack on her self esteem. I just wasn't sure how to help her emotionally.

There's such a fine line between saying, "You're unacceptable as you are - you need to change" and "You're a wonderful person no matter your weight". This book goes into how to find that happy medium.

This is the first book that I've felt strongly about reviewing. I have no problems giving it the full 5 stars. I thought it would be one to read & pass along to my friends. However, I'm keeping mine to reference again & buying another to pass along.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do we want them to want to be thin?, August 23, 2005

By	D. P. Birkett (Suffern, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Our Overweight Children: What Our Kids Go Through-And How We Can Help (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book, and one that should be read by anyone who deals with overweight children, as teacher, parent, physician or psychologist. It is well written, with many instructive and poignant vignettes.
Having said that, there are some negatives. The central dilemma in helping the overweight child is a conflict between making the child feel better and making the child thinner. The track record of treatments to make them thinner is poor. Sometimes they work but they involve convincing the child of how desirable it is to be thin. The more convinced the child becomes of the desirability of thinness the worse it feels. Rimm touches on this problem in her earlier chapters, especially in describing her argument with her son the epidemiologist, but does not resolve the issue.
Cigarettes, marihuana and alcohol are barely mentioned. This may be because of her of her focus in the earlier chapters on her own important and groundbreaking work, which was with middle schoolers.
I did not think the chapters on treatment were truly evidence-based although she has many good and useful ideas. She relies on secondary sources and on intuition and anecdotal evidence. It is presumably outside her stated purpose to offer specific dietary recommendations, but she does, in fact, make some suggestions. She might as well have gone the whole hog (sorry) and provided diet sheets rather than scientifically dubious and half-hearted tips about eating three meals a day and "healthy snacks."
The use of diet pills is not mentioned. These seem to be taboo for writers on pediatric weight problems, even though the same medications are widely prescribed to make naughty children behave better (with growth stunting regarded as an unwanted side effect).