SuperSized Kids: How to Rescue Your Child from the Obesity Threat

by Walt Larimore, Sherri Flynt, Steve Halliday

SuperSized Kids shows how the mushrooming childhood obesity epidemic is destroying children's lives, draining family resources and pushing America dangerously close to a total health care collapse -- but also explains, step by step, how parents can work to avert the coming crisis by taking control of the weight challenges facing every member of their family. For the first time in American history, a new epidemic is killing our kids. In 1960, only 4 percent of American children were considered obese. That number has skyrocketed to 15 percent today and is almost triple that number in certain ethnic groups. Staggering; is the word the U.S. Surgeon General uses to describe the potential health care costs of childhood obesity. We are seeing Generation Y growing into Generation XL, he declares. The most common health problem facing U.S. children today is being overweight -- a condition robbing kids of both their quality and quantity of life. Medical problems that doctors once saw only in adults aged 50 or older are now striking heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, asthma, joint problems, arthritis. One in three children born in 2000 is expected to develop Type 2 diabetes, with the risk of blindness, loss of kidney function, and early death associated with it. This is the first generation in American history whose life expectancy may actually decrease. Something has to be done, and quickly. Fad diets and self-focused weight loss plans have proven ineffective. An overweight child cannot be effectively treated in isolation of the family insisted one recent study, complaining, surprisingly few intervention programs include multiple family members SuperSized Kids is different. It shows parents how to cure the #1 family health crisis facing them today. It provides a step-by-step, medically sound and eminently doable lifestyle change program designed for the whole family. It also includes practical suggestions for impacting school and community programs as well as what government leaders can do to help.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health

320 pages, Hardcover

First published August 24, 2005

About the author

Dr. Larimore is one of America’s best-known family physicians and is listed in the Best Doctors in America, Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare, and the International Health Professionals of the Year. His MD degree is from Louisiana State University, with AOA Honors, while his Family Medicine residency, with an emphasis in Sports Medicine was at the Duke University Medical Center, where he was named one of the top twelve Family Medicine residents in the nation. He also completed a Queen’s Teaching Fellowship in Nottingham, England.

After his training, Dr. Larimore practiced 4 years in the Smoky Mountains before moving to Central Florida to practice for 16 years. From 1993-1994 he served as the President of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians. In 1996, he was named America’s Outstanding Family Medicine Educator by the American Academy of Family Physicians. In 2000, Dr. and Mrs. Larimore were named Educators of the Year by the Christian Medical Association.

The Larimores relocated to Colorado Springs in 2001. Besides practicing family medicine, Dr. Larimore is also an author, educator, and medical journalist. He serves on the adjunct family medicine faculty of the In His Image Family Medicine Residency in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.

As a medical journalist, from 1996 to 2001, Dr. Larimore hosted over 850 episodes of the daily, live Ask the Family Doctor show on Fox’s Health Network, being awarded the prestigious "Gracie" Award by the American Women in Radio and Television. From 2002 to 2004, Dr. Larimore hosted the Focus on Your Family’s Health’s syndicated radio and TV features.

Dr. Larimore is a frequent guest about family health topics on a wide variety of television and radio programs and has appeared on The Today Show, CBS’s Morning Show, several Fox News programs, and CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360. He provides medical commentary for radio stations in Chicago, Orlando, Baltimore, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Tampa, Albuquerque, and Ft. Wayne.

Dr. Larimore has written or edited over twenty books and over 600 articles in a variety of medical journals and lay magazines. His best-selling books include Bryson City Tales, Bryson City Seasons, and Alternative Medicine: The Christian Handbook.

Dr. Larimore co-wrote, with Barb, his childhood sweetheart and wife of over 35 years, His Brain, Her Brain: How divinely designed differences can strengthen your marriage. He also wrote the health chapter for Coach Joe Gibb’s best-selling book Game Plan for Life.

Dr. Larimore’s most recent health book is 10 Essentials of Happy, Healthy People, an undated and revised version of his award winning book 10 Essentials of Highly Healthy People. In 2009 he co-wrote his first novel, Time Scene Investigators: The Gabon Virus, with Paul McCusker. The sequel, Time Scene Investigators: The Influenza Bomb will be released in 2010.

Reviews

[Brent Darling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and lots of good information. Borrowed this book from the doctor's office.

[Bridget Morse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think if you are interested in this growing trend in America it is worth reading. There are environmental links for why kids are getting bigger, it's more than over indulgent parents. Full of practical advice and facts if you are looking into feeding your children appropriately. There is a website too

[Kristin Goodin-eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insights and advice for this generation who are surrounded by unhealthy living every which way