The Family Nutrition Book : Everything You Need to Know About Feeding Your Children, from Birth Though adolescence

by William Sears, Martha Sears

A guide for childhood nutrition covers all stages of growth and includes tips on feeding picky eaters, reading food labels, and controlling weight

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Health, Food, Nutrition, Reference, Family

416 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 1999

About the author

Dr. Sears, or Dr. Bill as his "little patients" call him, is the father of eight children as well as the author of over 30 books on childcare. Dr. Bill is an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine. Dr. Bill received his pediatric training at Harvard Medical School's Children's Hospital in Boston and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto -- the largest children’s hospital in the world, where he served as associate ward chief of the newborn nursery and associate professor of pediatrics. Dr. Sears is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and a fellow of the Royal College of Pediatricians (RCP).Dr. Bill is also a medical and parenting consultant for BabyTalk and Parenting magazines and the pediatrician on the website Parenting.com.

Reviews

[Myridian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was exactly what I was looking for. It's a clear, concise set of guildelines re healthy eating broken down into chapters dealing with different parts of the composition of foods (fats, protein, etc), food groups, and diets across the lifespan. I feel so much better able to understand the helathy food choices I want to make for myself and my son now.

I do have a couple of complaints about the book. For one thing, there needs to be a new edition. This book is more than 10 years old, and while it's still generally accurate, it could use a number of updates to the information. Secondly, after a while the bullet-point format of most of the chapters started to get to me. It does make the information easy to consume and look back for, but it also detracts from the readability. A little narrative in between the bullet points would have been helpful.

All in all though this is a great help in planning food for the family and gives good guidelines for kids in addition to what I had already known about how to feed myself healthy food. I wish I could give it 4.5 stars, but being forced to choose I put it a little closer to the 4 than the 5 mark.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book after having read, and loved, the Sears' The baby Book, and I was not disappointed.

Not only did I learn so much about the right stuff to feed my kids, I also found it incredibly helpful in informing my own food choices. My whole family eats more healthfully because of this book.

[Tia Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book to any mother who is interested in learning how to get the proper nutrition for their children. I loved it. Dr. Sears explains things well and gives lots of examples and novel approches to encouraging better foods for the entire family. It is not extreme or unrealistic, either.

[Alayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part of my attempt to adopt a healthier lifestyle. It walks you through the basics of reading a nutrition label and understanding the science behind proteins, carbohydrates, etc. It also explains which foods are the healthiest and why. I skipped lots of irrelevent parts (what to feed your baby, etc.) but thought it was a good book overall.

[Beneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic book about how to grow healthy kids (and adults too!). I've been eating more cantelope, seeds, and salmon ever since. . The Omega oils, even since this book was published, are being demonstrated as more and more helpful for health (even combatting ADD-type issues).

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

My most favorite nutrition book! I loved the chapter that covers how to read a label at the grocery store. I love how Dr Sears writes in terms that I can understand. Why it's important to drink water. What kinds of fats are good and bad...and why. I really got a lot out of reading it!

[Anissa C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after reading The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood. It provides some more focus beyond kids, but kids or adults, what constitutes good nutrition is consistent. Because this book predated The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood, it was not as up to date as its successor.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book was not what I was specifically looking for, the title is absolutely correct from a nutritional standpoint. In other words, this is an EXCELLENT reference book/resource on nutrition but focused for the developmental stages of a child.

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be a great guide for eating right and teaching my family to; since it wasn't taught to me as a kid - while my mother was a great cook we also ate a lot of pre-packaged foods. Now to get some good cookbooks.

[Heather]

Nutrition is crucial to feeling well. This is a great book that teaches you what you need to know to be healthy.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to give you some nutrition ideas for your children.

[Amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, good basic foundational concepts for good family nutrition from the Sears' couple.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any parent. Very straightforward and thorough guide to good nutrition. Reference it now regularly.

[Darci · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific nutrition reference book. He sticks to facts not fads and explains ideas clearly. Highly recommended.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good summary for the layperson who's interested in what they're feeding their child.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was informative, but not really anything I didn't already know.

[Abbey]

Has some stuff that I disagree with...but overall good information for parent's to know about feeding

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read a little like a text book to me. It was interesting and had useful information but it was not a very interesting read.

[LaDawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most balanced nutrition book I've read. Highly recommend it.

[Sacha]

Some helpful information

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good advice, but already out dated.

[Ann]

I was mostly interested in this book to read about infant nutrition

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parenting must-read. Good information that doesn't make you feel guilty.