Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right: The Food Solution That Lets Kids Be Kids

by Joanna Dolgoff

Childhood obesity has reached epidemic More than 18 million American children are considered obese and are at risk for health problems. In fact, today's generation of kids may be the first to experience shorter life spans than their parents.

Leading pediatrician Dr. Joanna Dolgoff's Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right teaches kids how to make healthy choices based on the principles of the traffic green light foods are nutritious, yellow light foods are eaten in moderation, and red light foods are occasional treats.

The program, which has a proven 96 percent success rate, can be tailored to suit any child's age, gender, and weight goals. Snacks and meals are designed to ensure that kids get the nutrients they need to not only lose or maintain weight, but to grow strong, healthy bodies. Complete with sample menus, recipes, and an index of more than 1,000 color-coded foods, Red Light, Green Light, Eat Right provides a practical solution for one of the biggest health crises facing America's children.

Genres: Health, Nutrition, Parenting, Nonfiction, Reference, Childrens, Cooking

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Mara YA Mood Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by our pediatrician who cautioned me about my 8 year old’s weight at a check up.

It is colorful and easy to read and full of great recipe ideas. Especially lunch ideas for school and snack ideas! Those were brilliant! The quick, build-a-lunch page was simple and fun for my kids to choose from, where you pick a meat (or protein) , pick a wheat, and pick a treat.

I often get stuck in a sack-lunch slump and come up clueless on what to pack for my kids in our busy lives while trying to be healthy as well. The school lunches are mostly hamburgers, pizza, calzones and grilled cheese so I try to only allow school hot lunch 1-2 days a week when I’m in a pinch.

What was also great for us is the entire idea of Red, Yellow and Green foods. I feel it’s psychologically better explain healthy foods vs junk foods in this way and it also makes more sense to them as opposed to hearing, “No, you can’t have that it’s not healthy.” This system gives them the why, they learn to understand what your bodies need and how much and why (ie: Green means go, red means stop.)

I highly recommend this clever and thoughtfully put together and easy to read healthy lifestyle plan! And also Dr. Sears LEAN Kids!

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very helpful in helping you and your child identify healthy food options and how much to have. I like the traffic light colors they use to keep it simple and to help you keep track of how much to eat. However, I didn’t agree with going completely fat free. I think healthy fats are essential. There are a few other things I found myself disagreeing with as well. That being said, this book was written in 2010 and health knowledge has changed since then.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read this whole book yet, but after my first flip through I can say it looks like a good book to have.

I have a toddler who, thankfully, eats a lot of fruits and vegetables, so I'm not really looking to have her lose weight, but those with kids who have a few pounds to lose might find this a good book to try.

This book follows the common sense 'fruits & veggies are good, fast food not so much' approach- do you need this book? Probably not, but if it makes your life easier, which it may, then absolutely.

There are some recipes I'm looking forward to trying, but I was disappointed to see the use of splenda in almost all the dessert recipes. I don't care for the taste of any artificial sweeteners, so I probably won't be trying those recipes.

[Christy Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the concepts presented in this book. The red light, yellow light & green light foods gave me a way to categorize healthy foods in a way that my 7 year old daughter can understand. We put up a dry erase board in the kitchen & my children are enjoying tracking their foods. I disagree with some of the green light foods (splenda & other artificial sweeteners & margarine) but this can be easily modified. This book introduced me to a way to get my children to eat more healthy in a fun way that they can get involved in.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is written for a very particular audience: parents (and their kids) who have overweight children.

It is a guide to helping them lose weight by making it fun. There are too many obese children, even as young as 2 years old. The book is written by a pediatrician who opened her own clinic that specializes in weight loss for kids. The system uses the colors on a stop light to help kids understand what and how much to eat. It combines calorie counting and choosing healthy foods into one diet without actually totally restricting anything from the diet in a simplified color coded scheme easy enough for young kids to follow.

The book gives recipes, advice for talking to kids and helping them become more physically active, and more. It brings home the message strongly that being overweight can lead to increased medicals problems at earlier ages than previously seen as typical adult and senior problems. Additionally, this is not a book for just the overweight child; it is clearly intended, as it well should, that parents must lead by example as they are most influential and can set the stage for the rest of their children's lives.

Overall, if this book is written for you, I highly recommend it. But in terms of solving the world's overall obesity issue, it's not the end all answer. Society needs a drastic change in the way we look at food and our health but this book is a nice stepping stone to the realization that children learn young and it stays with them, that the way we choose what we eat needs to be seriously considered, and if ever parent read this book we'd be much closer to a healthy society.

Eat (in moderation), drink (in moderation), and be merry (all the time)!

[Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the concept outlined in this book and the pointers for how to address potential problems with weight or poor eating habits in children. I also like that the author was a pediatrician who is also a mother. Most suggestions seem to be practical and reasonable. I wasn't the biggest fan of many of the recipes in the book because they seem to include ingredients that, though healthier, would not be available everywhere, but there were several that looked great that I'll be trying. I appreciate that her focus is on getting the whole family to recognize and eat healthier foods in general while still allowing for special occasions and treats as a regular part of a family's diet plan. The section on dining out and finding healthy alternatives was terrific and I will definitely be making use of the index in the back outlining hundreds of foods and their relative health value (red light, yellow light, green light and FREE!)...I'm glad I bought it and will use it as a reference.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful resource for any mother worried about making sure their kids are eating in a healthy way. My kids do not have a weight problem, but I still found that the information in this book was really useful and the recipes look really easy to do and really yummy. I love that Dolgoff does not avocate never giving sweets, because as a mom I know that is not realistic. She offers simple ideas for substituting more fatting sweets for more healthy choices, but if your child has a whopper or a piece of cake 2x a week, it will be fine!
I think that this book will help me plan better meals and snacks for my family, which will in turn make all of us healthier and will help prevent weight issues in the future.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the message of this book - it's great for adults and not just kids. With the growing problem of obesity, the message about how to attain moderation in eating is beneficial. Often books for parents trying to help their children eat better have illustrated pictures, but this one has full-page color photos and they look delicious. I think even picky adult eaters might be tempted to try something news. For dietitians that are treating children with overweight/obesity issues, this would be a great book to recommend to parents.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rate this 2.5 stars because this book wasn't exactly for us. Any book who's chapter 1 is titled "Is My Child Obese" isn't the perfect fit in our house. We were looking to just make better food choices around here and this is a whole system of re-thinking food. Basically everything is given a red/yellow/green light and you have so many "lights" per meal or snack. All raw fruits and veggies are free. I did take a few good pointers from here, but we aren't making this our new food bible or anything.

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book for parents who have to learn the tricks of properly feeding their children! With the need for good nutrition, this book has been able to give advice to parents looking to teach their children how to make good food choices. I recommend this book to all parents as a way to undo the bad choices of the past. Dr. Joanna Dolgoff has written a "must have" book for every home library.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept is good for kids because it is so basic, but it is way to basic for an adult. Adults can rationalize things much more thoroughly and there were some point in the book where you could take it and say while by that rationale, such and such is healthy, and its totally not. Good for kids who need help eating right though!

[Kim Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for families with picky eaters, overweight kids, and even kids who just could use more healthy food in their lives. Using the traffic light system to understand which foods are "Go" foods vs the foods they need to "Stop" before consuming is a very effective visual for kids to understand. I will be implementing this for my family in the next week.

[Michele Minor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book that tells parents how to get their child to eat healthy. It advocates portion control instead of forbidding certain foods for your child to eat, unless they do have an allergy to a particular food.

[Lenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pictures of the recipes look delicious; and I bet children would love to make and eat such colorful, vibrant foods. I am going to make the low fat pumpkin muffins, carrot cake, and garlic potatoes.

[Jaime Ann Sanborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book approaches eating in a way that motivates kids to make the right choices. No food is forbidden. It is all about portion sizes, and frequency. The book is incredibly user friendly with a database and a plethora of great recipes. I highly recommend.

[Katherine Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book on building nutrition for children. I especially enjoyed the recipes.

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for anyone interested in helping children (and adults) to eat right in this fast food age. In order to teach children about food choices, this book breaks the whole topic down to basics.

[Desiree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved how easy it was to understand Dr. Dolgoff's book. There wasn't one thing that was unappealing or not tasty!

[Amy Richard]

Good book if you are struggling with knowing what is good for your child nutrition wise.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought there were some great ideas and recipes in this book. I didn't think some of it was for me and my family, but I liked the basic concept.

[Ann Naegele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy for a tweener to follow and reshaping how the whole family views food choices.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I copied a few recipes out of this book that I will try out on my little guys.

[Amy Richard]

Good book if you are struggling with knowing what is good for your child nutrition wise.