The books reveal many myths and misconceptions about obesity that lead us to deny the major impact that obesity has on individuals and society. Today’s perceptions of normal have changed. Parents and professionals see overweight children as normal and normal weight children as too thin.

The books present an age and stage approach to preventing childhood obesity, with many practical tips from pregnancy through adolescence. It is not just about diet and exercise. They take into account the many facets of a child’s life in the womb, the family, the neighborhood, day care and schools.

 Entire communities and institutions must change in order to prevent obesity. The books and curriculum aim to empower individuals and organizations to take the first steps that will be required “to make the healthy choice the easy choice” for the family.

Simple Do’s and Don’ts for each age are available to guide parents’ decisions and actions. Learning aids and tools, such as action plans, are available to build the skills those parents and others need to become effective in making changes.

About the translation and cultural adaptation:

Through a small grant from the San Diego Kaiser Community Benefits Organization, we were able to engage the services of Dra. Gloria Sotelo, a Mexican physician and educator, and several promotores from the Healthy Eating Active Community Initiative of Chula Vista California. Dra. Sotelo language translated the English book into Spanish, and the promotores read the translated version, and formed a focus group for determining cultural compatibility. Changes in both the Spanish and English version resulted from this process. Content validity was checked via assessment from paid readers who responded to specific questions regarding concepts, on a chapter by chapter basis.