| Reviews
An Innovative Approach to Fighting Childhood Obesity
By William Sun, PhD, Senior Lecturer of Leeds Metropolitan University, England, Visiting Professor of Harbin Engineering University, China, and Director of The Process Centre, England.
Childhood obesity is a common health issue around the major part of the world, including the developed countries like the United States and many newly emerging countries like China. There are over 155 million children who have suffered from this illness around the world. In the United States alone, there are over 9 million children with childhood obesity. This health issue seems to be more critical now than before, as more and more children have increasingly got overweight and the solutions to this problem have proven to be less effective. This is why the book New Prescription for Childhood Obesity looks important, as it promises to provide a new and effective solution to the childhood weight problem. This gives a genuine hope for all the frustrated children and their parents.
The ineffectiveness of the mainstream prescriptions to childhood obesity is due to conventional limited understandings of this illness. For instance, many people including medical professionals believe that the cause of obesity is “eating more and exercising less”. And then the treatment for obesity is simply “eating less and exercising more”. Dr. Johnson, the author of this book, argues that this approach does not work over the long term because it is unsustainable. Furthermore, the traditional approach does not address the fundamental cause of childhood obesity. According to Dr. Johnson, the actual cause of obesity and its associated chronic diseases is rooted in damaging free radicals throughout the body, which trigger oxidative stress and low-grade silent inflammation. It is oxidative stress and the silent inflammation that produces inflammatory hormones and chemicals, which turn on genes causing fat storage and disease and in the meanwhile, turn off genes reducing inflammation and health risks. Therefore, any effective solution to childhood obesity must address the issue of damaging free radicals.
It is based on the fundamental understandings of childhood obesity that Dr. Johnson provides a newer approach to fighting childhood obesity. This new solution rests on employing nature’s powerful super-antioxidants and phytonutrients to deactivate damaging free radicals. Rather than focusing on conventional “dieting” approach producing only short-term weight loss and fat reduction, in this book Dr. Johnson provides children with specific simple strategies, techniques, and skills for eating not only high quality foods, but the right amount of food appropriate for their level of physical activity without dieting or restrictions. The easy-to-follow long-term solutions teach children to maintain a healthy lifestyle that can automatically become a normal part of their daily routine. In so doing, children will have a better chance of reducing excess body fat and maintaining a healthy body that produces less oxidative stress and inflammation and leads to less craving and overeating. The benefits of this new approach can be more, such as increase in energy, growth of muscle tissue, and a faster metabolism that converts calories into cellular energy instead of toxic fat.
It is noticeable that unlike the traditional approach that prescribes universally applied treatments for all children, this book emphasizes tailored programs to meet the actual demands and requirements of individual children. Hence, specific factors like children’s personalities, eating habits, levels of physical activities, and food varieties and cooking styles must be incorporated into a therapy program and considered as a strategy for reducing obesity and inflammation.
Dr. Johnson also informs us that Inflammation comes not just from foods and diets, but also from many other sources, such as the body conditions (bacteria, viruses, infections, the digestive systems, etc.), the natural environment (e.g., environmental pollutions), and the social environment (e.g., cultures, social conventions and life styles). Thus, an effective solution to childhood obesity should be a comprehensive and systematic solution, rather than purely relied on a single diet program or a physical activity program. This comprehensive way of thinking about childhood obesity is inspirational.
Another remarkable characteristic of this book is that it provides valuable information and knowledge as well as workable strategies and skills directly to parents. Indeed, it is parents’ duties and responsibilities to care about their children’s overweight problem and the long-term solutions. Particularly, parents need to educate themselves before they can teach and help their children. To use Dr. Johnson’s words, parents should be “a positive role model” (p. 46). In many cases, children’s obesity comes from their parents, particularly their unhealthy life styles and eating habits. Therefore, the key solution to childhood obesity actually rests upon the minds and behaviours of parents. For instance, in their reproductive years, women need to plan ahead of pregnancy to ensure that their children will not be overweighed before they are born, thereby to reduce the possible risk for their children of developing obesity in their childhood and adulthood. This parents perspective throughout the entire book is very insightful.
This book has 14 chapters with five appendices. The first six chapters contain the basic theories and knowledge on childhood obesity, in which the theoretical foundation for the new approach to fighting childhood obesity is laid down. However, the new theory on childhood obesity looks thin in here. More articulations and explorations may be needed to widen and deepen the understandings and to address the complexities of childhood obesity. The later eight chapters focus on food choices, diet styles and food supplements, which provide very detailed information and skills and techniques for parents to help their children to get enough antioxidants and phytonutrients to neutralize the high levels of free radicals produced from eating foods and from environmental pollutants. The appendices are also very useful, as they offer a daily meal plan and more than 40 recipes for obesity reduction.
Overall, this is a very valuable book on childhood obesity. The understanding on obesity issues is distinctive and fairly fundamental, the new approach to fighting childhood obesity is innovative, and the strategies, methods and techniques used in the new remedy program are helpful. The presentation of this book is clear, fluent and easy to be understood by all readers even with little knowledge of medicine. To all the parents who care about their children’s weight, this book is an essential read.
Biography of the Reviewer:
Dr. William Sun holds Certificate in Complementary and Alternative Medicine from the US National Institute of Health, and Certificate in Assessment and Treatment of Depression in the Primary Care Setting from Harvard Medical School. He received Doctor of Philosophy in Law from Leeds Metropolitan University, England. He is a member of the international Scientific and Medical Network, and British Holistic Medical Association. He is currently Senior Lecturer of Leeds Metropolitan University, England, Visiting Professor of Harbin Engineering University, China, and Director of The Process Centre, England. September 9, 2008.
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 An Excellent Guide With A Clear and Easy To Follow Format, March 26, 2008
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When I am people watching in my neighborhood shopping mall, it never ceases to amaze me as to the number of overweight children that catch my attention.
As Dr. Billy Johnson points out in his exceptional guide, New Prescription for Childhood Obesity, America is now facing a real crisis when it comes to childhood obesity. Did you know that there are over 9 million children in the USA alone with childhood obesity? And worldwide it is has reached epidemic proportions with over 155 million affected.
Dr. Johnson is a medical graduate from the University of Florida and he did his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the Maimonides Medical Center in New York. He holds a Ph.D in Molecular Biology/Microbiology and has practiced medicine in Virginia and Connecticut. In addition, he has written many articles for medical and scientific journals. He takes the problem of childhood obesity very seriously.
In the introduction to New Prescription for Childhood Obesity, Dr. Johnson fervently maintains, which incidentally forms the basis of his book, that the root cause of obesity and chronic diseases related to obesity for both children and adults is the low-grade silent inflammation associated with extra abdominal fat, along with low levels of antioxidants and phytonutrients. So grave is this that Dr. Johnson affirms that as the waistlines of our youth increase as they grow older, so does the prevalence of chronic degenerative diseases that once would only be seen in adults such as type 2 diabetes that now affect over a half a million children in the United States.
To conclude that it is quite frightening to envisage that there will be more and more children being treated with potent drugs for cholesterol and arterial plaques is an understatement. Just think about the ramifications when a child becomes an adult and the quality of life he or she will be required to endure.
In New Prescription for Childhood Obesity, Dr. Johnson examines all of the dangers of childhood obesity, its causes and what parents can do about it. His approach is quite different than the traditional method, which advocates that to reduce weight and fat it is necessary to eat less and exercise more, which according to Dr. Johnson does not work very well over the long term. It is his contention that it is essential to address the root cause which he breaks down into oxidative stress, insulin resistance and the low-grade chronic inflammation that are triggered by many factors such as unhealthy foods as well as environmental causes as exposure to pesticides, industrial pollutants, and toxins.
It should be mentioned, as Dr. Johnson points out in his introduction, that the book is intended for parents who want to help their children (5-12 years old) to develop healthy eating habits in order to improve the quality of their weight, body fat and health, and particularly targeting young children who might be at risk.
The book divides itself into fourteenchapters, five appendixes, selected references and an index. The first section of the book deals with the science and essential philosophy of healthy eating wherein Dr. Johnson counsels his readers that in order to fight obesity in children, it is necessary to pay particular attention to antioxidants and phytonutrients that are found in non-starchy vegetables and fruits.
Dr. Johnson's program, which is explored in depth throughout the book, focuses on balanced nutrition that can be tailored to the level of physical activity on a meal-to-meal basis with stress reduction as an additional component.
If you are wondering what are antioxidants, Dr. Johnson informs us that they are: "phytonutrients or chemical compounds that neutralize free radicals and prevent them from causing damage to healthy cells and molecules like DNA, lipids (fats), proteins and cell membranes. Insufficient antioxidants in your children's meals are the sole reason they store excessive abdominal fat that makes more inflammation in their bodies-leading to obesity and chronic diseases." As for phytonutrients, we are informed that these are the health promoting bioactive compounds or nutrients found in plants including vegetables, fruits, beans, and soy.
From this brief introduction pertaining to the vocabulary that Dr. Johnson uses throughout his book, readers are presented with a road map as to how to combat child obesity. It is quite amazing how much information Dr. Johnson covers in fewer than two hundred pages where we learn about the strategies for reducing obesity and inflammation, what is silent inflammation, medical consequences of obesity, food essentials, becoming knowledgeable and proactive pertaining to the foods we eat, recognizing food diversity, vitamins, minerals and essential fats, how to draw up a healthy shopping list, planning meals with your child, breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. The appendixes are very interesting and informative as they deal with sample daily meal plans, how children can have some fun eating, shares responsibility, and several recipes.
An interesting sub-section of the book is the reference made to MonaVie Acai Berry Juice. According to Dr. Johnson one way to address the deficiency of antioxidants and phytonutrients in children's diets is to supplement their diets with a unique formula that was recently discovered by scientists and available under the brand name MonaVie.
The key ingredient in MonaVie is the Acai Berry that grows at the top of tall palm trees in the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil. Dr. Johnson tells us that the Acai fruit has the highest antioxidant activity of any fruit or vegetable currently known on a gram-to-gram basis.
Dr. Johnson has a vast amount of experience dealing with the problem of child obesity and his experience shows, indeed, with his impressively researched and comprehensive study. It is difficult for me to think of a single issue that isn't broached in New Prescription for Childhood Obesity. He is particularly to be commended for his clear easy to follow format and without doubt readers will undoubtedly benefit from a vastly improved sense of the subject and the tools necessary to combat child obesity.
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Just What The Doctor Ordered, March 25, 2008
Media outlets such as CNN and MSNBC often feature reports on the growing epidemic of childhood obesity in America, and the reporters typically blame the usual culprits: soda, candy, chips, fast food, etc. What they fail to mention, though, is precisely what about such foods leads to the abnormal weight gains that children usually experience.
In New Prescription For Childhood Obesity, Billy Johnson picks up where the media often stops short, shedding light on the much-needed link between the dietary habits of children and their eventual health/weight concerns. The real cause of the problem: low-grade silent inflammation. While that term may not be a familiar one to the average layman, it is an absolutely essential concept that must be both embraced and applied if society has any hope of stemming the swelling tide of childhood obesity.
In essence, low-grade silent inflammation is the normal immune response that our bodies launch in order to combat the presence of free radicals, molecules that attack our DNA, mutating it in such a way that it can lead to non-functional protein, enzymes, and hormones. If the DNA goes unrepaired, the damage done to it can lead to the development of such diseases as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Our system's natural defense against free radicals? Antioxidants and phytonutrients, chemical compounds that neutralize free radicals, preventing them from causing damage to our DNA; thus, if our bodies maintain low levels of antioxidants and phytonutrients, free radicals run rampant throughout our system, leading to a prolonged immune response, or, low-grade silent inflammation. Antioxidants and phytonutrients are naturally found in fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods, and, thus, Johnson's key point is that a diet lacking in these foods greatly increases the likelihood of obesity and other health concerns in children.
Johnson then proceeds, in meticulous fashion, to proscribe effective solutions to approaching the problem of low-grade silent inflammation, including recommendations for our diets, caloric intake, physical activities, and even maintaining healthy teeth & gums. He even includes Appendices featuring sample daily meal plans, healthy recipes, and detailed resources for further helpful information. It can truly be said that no individual who has the fortune of reading this book will have any excuse to live unhealthily ever again.
In his Introduction, Johnson cites that some experts are predicting that this will be the first generation in America to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Such an alarming prognostication is cause enough for everyone to take a serious look at the health disparities among our children, and New Prescription For Childhood Obesity is the perfect starting point for just that. A highly recommended, informative, and enlightening read.
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We could all use this book., April 3, 2008
Rating: Very Good |
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Quoting from the back cover:
"About one in three American children is either overweight or obese. Childhood obesity is a crisis robbing youth of health and energy, and even causing children to die prematurely. Obesity among children, which is likely to carry over to adulthood, is also linked to a greater risk of high cholesterol, diabetes, early heart disease, and high blood pressure.
"New Prescription for Childhood Obesity provides an innovative approach to fighting childhood obesity. The traditional method for weight loss and fat reduction has been to eat less and exercise more, but this does not work over the long haul. To lose weight and keep it off requires addressing the root cause of the problem: insulin resistance and the low-grade silent inflammation that is triggered by many factors, including foods and environmental causes such as pesticides, industrial pollutants, and toxins.
"Now parents have an opportunity to change their child's eating and physical activity habits even before a weight problem develops. Complete with recipes to get you on the right track, this essential guide provides specific and simple strategies, techniques, and skills that will enable children to eat the right amount of food appropriate for their level of physical activity without dieting."
This is an excellent book, and we could all benefit, not just our children, from Dr. Johnson's theories, information and eating/exercise program. There certainly is a need in this country for information and guidance to help us fight our obesity issue. This is a well written, organized and edited book, and if your child has a weight problem, you might want to read and consider Dr. Johnson's program.
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Highly Recommended by Cheryl Ellis, Allbooks Review, April 15, 2008
Genre: Health & Fitness
Title: New Prescription for Childhood Obesity:
Fight Childhood Obesity with Antioxidants & Phytonutrients
Author: Billy C. Johnson M.D., Ph.D
Everyone that is aware of their surroundings must realize that childhood obesity has become an epidemic. However, few are as knowledgeable about the extremely sad, long term effects as this author, Billy C. Johnson M.D., Ph.D.
Written as a parenting guide for the 5-12 year old generation, the intention is teaching that eating less and exercising more does not work on a long term basis. Parents must teach their children the root of the problem so lifelong habits of healthy eating are established. By understanding this approach, the parents themselves adopt a healthier lifestyle, benefiting as well.
The root of the problem is the development of low-grade silent inflammation combined with decreased levels of antioxidants and phytonutrients. The result being chronic, degenerative diseases with Type 2 diabetes at the top of a growing list threatening quality of life. The multitude of traumatic diseases is not only diabetes but loss of energy and muscle, arterial plaque, poor concentration, heart disease and high blood pressure, just a few mentioned as a wakeup call. Along with all of this, we are also faced with external sources such as pollution, inadequate sleep and ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
Chapter 1 is based on the philosophy that balanced nutrition can be tailored to the individual level of physical activity. Antioxidants are phytonutrients, which are chemical compounds found in non-starchy vegetables, fruits, beans and soy. They must be included in the diet for the body to be able to neutralize high levels of free radicals that cause oxidative stress, attack DNA and other healthy cells. The recommended daily serving of 7-9, falls very short in today's society. A new discovery to combat this deficiency is Mona Vie, which is a highly concentrated juice based from the Acai Berry.
This book has been meticulously written in 14 easy to understand chapters. The author, Billy C. Johnson M.D., Ph.D. leaves no stone unturned as he covers everything with clarity from food groups, to necessity of water and snacks. Planning is very important and he teaches us how to plan/shop, as well as providing a sample plan including many basic recipes.
He graduated from the University of Florida, did his residency in obstetrics and gynecology in Brooklyn and has also practiced in Virginia and Connecticut. After tragically losing his brother to heart attack secondary to diabetes he became interested in Health & Wellness. He is very active on the subject with public speaking, weekly radio program and on the Internet.
It has been an honor to learn from his book and I would highly recommend it.
Reviewer: Cheryl Ellis, Allbooks Reviews.
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New Prescription for Childhood Obesity Review, April 21, 2008
I can't agree with Dr. Johnson more than what the rest of the reviews have mentioned. The product he refers to (MonaVie) is a wonderful product for gaining a high amount of antioxindants and phytonutrients for adults and children. Not only is it good for children to curb obesity, it is also great for adults looking to get their proper daily nutrition. Taking 4 ounces daily is the equivalent to getting up to 13 servings of fruit a day. The USDA recommends getting 7-13 servings a day. Who has the time to eat that many fruits/veggies a day? Not me. It only takes 30 seconds to get your 4 ounces of MonaVie. I can't recommend it enough. For more info on MonaVie you can go to [...]/IFeelGreat. |
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