Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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;

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.

The recent case of an eight year old Ohio boy being taken from home and placed in foster care inspired me to pick up this book from the library. Whatever my opinion is of the state's overreach or the interpretation of the writing of Dr. David Ludwig, if Jennifer and I find ourselves being asked to take a child for this reason I thought getting some guidance in the area would be helpful. After all, the whole idea here is to help the kid get back to his family.

We're not completely in the dark about nutrition, diet and exercise. Several years ago I found myself tipping the scales at 310 pounds. Even at 6'3" that's a lot of weight. Jennifer and I did Weight Watcher's online together and I dropped 70 pounds! Losing the weight was not nearly as much fun and putting it on, but the sense of satisfaction and the string of little victories along the way made it well worth the effort because I learned a lot about food, myself, and goal setting.

Dr. Sylvia Rimm's book is organized in eight chapters, includes an introduction by celebrity weatherman Al Roker, as well as the author's introduction.

Roker's comments were interesting and eye opening; I did not grow up overweight - if anything I was too thin, so his story helped me empathize.

In her introduction, Dr. Rimm clearly sets out what she's going to cover in the pages to follow. (In non-fiction, always read the introduction first because the author will tell you what she wants to get across; in fiction read it last, because the writer of the introduction will ruin the story for you.)

Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 each have two parts. Part One contains the findings of her research on a particular problem, which include surveys and interviews. Part Two contains her Rescuing Techniques which are practical and doable solutions to the problem.

For example, chapter five is entitled, COUCH POTATOES AND MOUSE POTATOES: The Less Active Interests of Overweight Children. In this chapter she unpacks the data related to "screen time" (including television and the computer) versus athletic activity.

The Rescuing Techniques for this chapter, as in all, are very specific. They include encouraging the child in some athletic participation, family play time, and monitoring the child's alone time.

Chapter 2 is written by her son, Dr. Eric Rimm. This chapter would have been better suited as an appendix, which is the way I treated it on reading. Dr. Eric covers the "epidemic of child obesity", the health effects and costs. The chapter is well written and easy to read, and I understand the inclusion of the material, but we've heard and read all of this already.

Chapter 8 is the gem. Here, Dr. Sylvia Rimm lays out her Six Step Rescue Plan: (1) Be a coach, not a judge; (2) Go for the goal; (3) Recruit additional support; (4) Design a nutritional plan; (5) Organize and exercise effort; and (6) Celebrate strengths. Inclusion of this general summation is brilliantly helpful. You can internalize all of the other chapter's Rescuing Techniques as you deal with specific issues unique to your child, but these steps fit everyone.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in helping an overweight child become fit, confident, and in control of his life. The author's approach is loving and respectful, rather than combative and adversarial.

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).

As a former fat child, I already know the devastating effect being overweight can have on one's psyche. Reading this book just reminded me of my miserable childhood and of the horrors my daughter must be experiencing. In fact, I haven't been able to finish the book because it's so upsetting. Maybe there's some comfort and positive advice in later chapters--I hope so.