Safe Dieting for Teens

"Safe Dieting for Teens" is a must-read for teenagers, their parents and leaders of teen programs. In a very conversational writing style, Dr. Ojeda gently addresses many issues facing today's youth, while empowering teens to make healthy lifestyle changes. This is not a diet book, but rather a book about choices; including why the teen may choose to be obsessed with weight in the first place. From heredity to hormones, "Safe Dieting for Teens" equips the teen with the knowledge necessary to take personal control of their diet choices. Dr. Ojeda provides options, suggestions and encouragement that the average teen can understand. The messages are simple and clear. More importantly, Dr. Ojeda respects the teen's ability to understand the concepts of diet and make healthy choices, while also understanding that these choices must fit the teen lifestyle. The math and science of weight control are cleverly incorporated into discussions of why most diets fail, why portion control works and how exercise helps. The many "tips" highlighted throughout the book, such as "If you walk thirty extra minutes each day for a year, you could lose nineteen pounds" and "We can change our life, but only when we're ready," help to bring the concepts of healthy living to life. As the father of two daughters and a Board Member for a local Boys and Girls Club, this book has become one of my most important "reference manuals."

The teenage years are when many teens' bodies begin to radically change, and also when they start to be harshly criticized for their appearance. "Safe Dieting for Teens" is a guide for teenagers who feel the pressure of their classmates and want to shrug it off by proving them wrong. Advising against practices that lead teens down the slippery road to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, "Safe Dieting for Teens" gives sensible, wise advice effective for young adults' developing bodies. Enhanced with a calorie counting chart, "Safe Dieting for Teens" is highly recommended for community library health collections.

Safe Dieting for Teens by Linda Ojeda is a good, basic weight loss guide and one that I would be comfortable recommending to teens and their parents. What makes this book different from the myriad of weight loss books out there? For one, it doesn't deal solely with losing weight; the book takes into account many complex issues that face teens today. One important question, which is overlooked in many diet books, asks teens to examine their reasons for picking up a diet book in the first place. Is it because a doctor or parent has suggested that they are at risk due to obesity, or is it because they feel they should look like a super-model with a figure that has been super enhanced by computer to look skinny and fashionable. Dr. Ojeda is well aware that often the teens that have no need to diet are the ones most obsessed by it. There is an entire chapter in the book devoted to recognizing Anorexia and Bulimia, serious problems in our society. For those that do decide they need to make weight changes, the book doesn't make promises of magical and sudden weight loss. It advises slow and steady modifications that will lead to life style changes. This is a common theme in most reasonable weight loss plans, and Dr. Ojeda's advice keeps that message upbeat and doable. She places the choices in the hands of the dieter, giving information and suggestions for taking baby steps into changes that can last a lifetime without a great deal of sacrifice. Yes, the book has calorie charts (specifically, for many of the fast food places teens frequent), but it also maintains that the teen may want to begin a weight loss program by taking stairs instead of the elevator everyday and skip the food changes completely for awhile. Her reoccurring message: It's your diet, do what will work for you. Make choices that will make you happy, not miserable. Written in an easy to read and conversational style, the book recognizes that teens have some different issues from adults. Dr. Ojeda has taken those factors into account and has written a helpful and positive guide that can help teens make healthful life-style changes while keeping their own preferences.

Better than most of the genre, this well-rounded, conversational book will at the very least have teens thinking about their food choices. Fairly accurate information is presented on diet choices, the importance of exercise, diet balance, and fast food choices. Missing are more complete nutritional advice (beyond recommendations to get a general number of servings of food and vegetables a day), specific portion recommendations, and any discussion of how the body digests nutrients and stores energy. Inaccuracies and inconsistencies include the author's misunderstanding of the difference between nutrisweet and sucralose, and a switch in language from telling readers that there are no bad foods to a "Restaurant Food Guide" which lists foods "usually not okay (a better choice might have been "eat in moderation" or "higher in calories per portion"). Still, overall, the messages that getting up and moving is a big part of the weight loss battle, that moderation and mindfulness are the keys to success, and that self-esteem and looks are separate concepts make this a winner for teenagers concerned about overweight. Sadly, in this genre a book can be considered good if it simply offers no harmful advice. Here is a volume several steps above that, and worth reading. This book, with positive advice and a far-reaching outlook, can help many young people if they read it, carefully consider the contents and ideas, and put the suggestions into place in their lives.

What a delightful book! The tone of this book is absolutely spot-on: helpful, empathetic, understanding, and sensitive to the preconceptions held by most teens about weight issues and how to deal with them. The author exhibits an extremely keen understanding of the challenges, questions and confusion that most teens (especially teenaged girls) experience regarding weight, body image, and weight-loss issues. This book is full of practical advice, straight talk, and usable information regarding nutrition, real-life exercise, and lifelong healthy eating habits and food choices. I would recommend this book for any teen looking for help in dealing with weight challenges and learning how to live a healthy lifestyle.