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Trim Kids: The Proven 12-Week Plan That Has Helped Thousands of Children Achieve a Healthier Weight
By Melinda S. Sothern
Harper Resource
416 pp $25.95

Childhood obesity may be the epidemic of the new century, but it hasn't hit the Woolston household. My 8-year-old son William could fill his pockets with solid lead and still fall several pounds short of average. But William has something in common with most heavy kids: He doesn't get nearly enough exercise. Left on his own, he would spend the day playing "Backyard Soccer" on the computer, never once feeling the urge to go outside and kick a real ball.

As the father of a human flagpole, then, I'm not exactly the target audience for Trim Kids, a new book written by Melinda S. Sothern, PhD, and other childhood obesity specialists at Louisiana State University. The heart of Trim Kids is a 12-week program of diet and exercise designed to help overweight kids shed pounds. Early on, we're introduced to Jeff, a 10-year-old who weighed twice as much as he should have (an astounding 55 percent of his body weight was fat). By following the tenets of the program, he lost 54 pounds in the next year and became the quarterback of his school's football team.

But this isn't just a kiddie diet book. It's a training manual for parents trying to raise healthy children in an age of Happy Meals, satellite TV, the Internet, and Playstation 2. With enough support and encouragement, the authors assure us, kids of all sizes can eat right, stay active, and get the most out of their bodies. After reading this book, I believe it.

Trim Kids couldn't have arrived at a better time. Just as the book was about to hit the shelves, US Surgeon General David Satcher issued a call to action against obesity. According to his statement, the rate of obesity among adolescents has tripled since 1980, a trend fueled by unhealthy diets and extreme inactivity. "This is probably the most sedentary generation of people in the history of the world," Satcher said. The epidemic has swept up city kids and farm kids, rich kids and poor kids, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Even school districts across the country have begun sending letters home with overweight schoolchildren warning parents of the dangers of obesity.

Many parents hope their kids will just "grow out of it," but obesity is rarely a fleeting problem. Eighty percent of obese 10- to 13-year-olds will grow into obese adults. Overweight, inactive children are also vulnerable to maladies considered "adult" diseases, such as high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. A study in the medical journal The Lancet found that severely obese children already had stiff arteries, making them potentially susceptible to atherosclerosis as adults. And even though overweight kids are becoming more and more numerous, the stigma is as strong as ever.

Fortunately, young bodies are extremely malleable, and any kid can lose weight, says Sothern, an exercise physiologist and the primary author of Trim Kids. As she and her colleagues write in chapter one, "There is no single solution for every child. But we've found there's not a single child for whom there are no solutions."

The solutions outlined in Trim Kids aren't simple, and they won't change kids overnight. The program requires participation and patience from the whole family. Kids have to fill out forms, weigh themselves frequently, closely watch what they eat, and start a structured exercise program. They are practically guaranteed to complain. The authors urge parents to stay firm but flexible about the exercise a child participates in. Don't make them play football if they're more avid about skating, for example. And encourage them not to give up too soon. All kids, they say, want to be healthy and active -- some of them just need a little coaching.

Parental influence is especially important when it comes to food. Kids love fat and sugar, and plenty of people and companies are eager to give it to them. Trim Kids urges parents to empty the house of "temptation foods," cook at home as often as possible, steer clear of fast food restaurants, limit sodas (many kids get 1,000 calories a day just from soft drinks!), and satisfy their children's hunger, not their cravings. No foods are forbidden, but every item has to fit within daily limits.

Trim Kids attempts to take much of the guesswork out of healthy eating. Using simple charts, parents can "score" foods based on their content of fat or carbohydrate. Parents can also refer to the book's sample menus and large collection of recipes. Most of the suggested meals sound tantalizing, but a few seem to be more about low-fat cooking than making food that's tasty as well as healthy. You'd better make sure your child is really committed to the project before you offer a dinner of seasoned lentils, creamed spinach, and a glass of water.

Of course, the healthiest diet in the world can't save a kid who hardly ever leaves the couch. Modern society seems designed to keep kids as still as possible, and parents have to work hard to buck the trend. A core concept of Trim Kids is that kids love to play. When parents make a house "play-friendly" -- by putting tumbling mats in the basement or a swing-set in the backyard, for example -- kids will almost automatically burn extra calories.

The program also includes a series of exercises that can be tailored to each child's abilities and sense of fun. Extremely obese kids, for example, can swim slowly or ride an exercise bicycle (with resistance turned down to zero) for 20 minutes two days a week. These activities will help them shed pounds while sparing their joints. Kids who are only slightly overweight might try brisk walking, in-line skating, martial arts, or other "weight-bearing" activities for 20 to 35 minutes three times a week. Over time, the exercises can become gradually longer and more intense.

The book highlights one of Sothern's major discoveries: Obese children often have a surprisingly low tolerance for exercise. When other kids are just starting to get out of breath, hefty kids may be in agony. For many years, Sothern has preached a slow-but-steady approach. If a kid hits the wall after a few minutes, he or she won't be able to burn many calories. Moderate exercise is much more effective, not to mention much more enjoyable.

Once again, the book provides many tips, some more practical than others. I fully agree that dads should spend more time playing catch with their kids than watching games on TV. (I'll start this weekend. Promise.) It also makes perfect sense to ration television and computer time carefully and to take family hikes and bike rides.

But should I really tell William to dance during every commercial? Should any parent round up all of the overweight neighborhood kids for a game of backyard volleyball? ("Excuse me, I couldn't help noticing your child is a little chubby. Could he report to my house at 3 pm?") And who's going to hide plastic Easter eggs with messages like "Do 10 jumping jacks"? What's next, stomach crunches for Christmas?

A little overkill can be forgiven: The authors of Trim Kids have provided a practical remedy to a devastating problem. Throughout it all, they show deep compassion for parents and their children. They stress positive reinforcement and never place blame. Trim Kids has something to offer any family, even mine.

Now it's time for me to get off this computer. I have a play date.

-- Chris Woolston, M.S., is a health and medical writer with a master's degree in biology. He is a contributing editor at Consumer Health Interactive, and was the staff writer at Hippocrates, a magazine for physicians. He has also covered science issues for Time Inc. Health, WebMD, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. His reporting on occupational health earned him an award from the northern California Society of Professional Journalists.

First published April 11, 2002
Last updated October 14, 2008
Copyright © 2002 Consumer Health Interactive

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