Organic or regular baby food? White or wheat bread? Yogurt or ice cream? Parents often wonder how best to feed their families, but the wondering is over with The Family Nutrition Book: Everything You Need to Know About Feeding Your Children--From Birth Through Adolescence. The beloved William Sears and his wife, Martha (a nurse), teach you how to become your own family nutritionist. Parents of eight children and well-known authors of more than a dozen childcare books, the Searses offer the solid advice on breastfeeding, beginning solids, and feeding picky eaters you'd expect. But more than that, they provide a crash course in overall nutrition. You'll learn how the body works, how to read food labels, what ingredients to look for (and which to avoid), how to trim fat from your diet, what makes up a balanced diet (not just the "food pyramid"), which foods are thought to prevent cancer, and more. The Searses also offer helpful food lists: good fats, best proteins, top 10 complex carbohydrates, and top 12 family foods, to name a few. You'll even get favorite Sears family recipes to help you get started on the road to healthy eating. It's all here, and it's all mixed with a healthy dose of passion for eating well. So you can show your children--by example--how to stay healthy and feel great. --Kelley Smith

From Publishers Weekly
In this vivid and ambitious guide to feeding a family, the Searses, William a doctor and Martha a nurse, shed light on the attributes of food: here brown sugar is "ordinary table sugar made brown by adding molasses," and the blues, reds and purples of fruits and vegetables veil vitamin deposits. Onions and garlic tame the damaging effects of fried oil; meat and vegetables eaten in combination amount to more than the sum of their parts; and cinnamon can masquerade as sugar. A wealth of nutrition information is smoothly presented, complete with accessible scientific explanations, behavior modification tips and framed asidesAall organized into minichapters with such titles as "Powerful Proteins" and "The Joy of Soy." The book progresses from an overview of nutrients (water and fiber among them) to an extensive evaluation of food groups, including discussions of vegetarianism, organic foods and decoding packaging labels. Additional sections address weight control and the specific roles various foods play in disease prevention, stamina building, etc. Reference tables and an updated food pyramid will prove indispensable to the reader. Agent, Denise Marcil. TV satellite tour. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
From pediatrician William Sears and his wife, a registered nurse, who have written 16 books on childcare.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
The more we understand childhood nutrition, the more central we realize it. Recent studies prove its importance for health, longevity, and emotional well-being, and ever moderate undernutrition has been shown to have lasting effects on school performance. Of course, shaping kids' diets is easy theoretically; in practice, it's often impossible. The Sears spouses have outsmarted enough finicky pre-teens to make their school lunch and afternoon snack regimen seem credible.
— Lisa Echenthal

ANNOTATION

"...the definitive guide to ensuring proper nutrition for babies, children, and adolescents...educates parents about how to become their family's nutritionist."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In the wise and accessible tone that has made them America's most popular childcare experts, the authors address all of parents' concerns about their children's nutritional needs, from birth through adolescence. 40 line drawings.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In this vivid and ambitious guide to feeding a family, the Searses, William a doctor and Martha a nurse, shed light on the attributes of food: here brown sugar is "ordinary table sugar made brown by adding molasses," and the blues, reds and purples of fruits and vegetables veil vitamin deposits. Onions and garlic tame the damaging effects of fried oil; meat and vegetables eaten in combination amount to more than the sum of their parts; and cinnamon can masquerade as sugar. A wealth of nutrition information is smoothly presented, complete with accessible scientific explanations, behavior modification tips and framed asides--all organized into minichapters with such titles as "Powerful Proteins" and "The Joy of Soy." The book progresses from an overview of nutrients (water and fiber among them) to an extensive evaluation of food groups, including discussions of vegetarianism, organic foods and decoding packaging labels. Additional sections address weight control and the specific roles various foods play in disease prevention, stamina building, etc. Reference tables and an updated food pyramid will prove indispensable to the reader. Agent, Denise Marcil. TV satellite tour. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal