Book Review: Eat This, Not That! For Kids! By David Zinczenko

Fun and informative for all ages, Eat This, Not That! For Kids! gives helpful hints to make better choices when choosing what you eat.

I have two ever-growing boys at home, CJ, at 16, is 6’2″ and 220 lbs. and RC, at 13, is 5’10” and 190. Big guys with big appetites, they eat large quantities so the quality of what they eat is more important than ever. So, I picked up this nifty little book on a shopping trip this week.

Like the other Eat This, Not That! books, this version gives you alternative choices to high calorie meals and snacks. This version, however, is geared toward kids and includes alternatives for chain restaurant kid’s meals, cereals and kid friendly snacks.

It includes tips to help us get our kids to eat healthier, try new foods and eat their veggies. I’m very fortunate to have two teenage sons that eat a variety of different foods and love vegetables. At our house drinks are more the issue. Getting them to drink more water and less juice, tea and soda is a constant battle.

The restaurant section contains a nice collection of major chains and gives each one a grade based on nutritional information and, if the restaurant doesn’t provide it, it’s an automatic F. I was disappointed to find that some of our favorites are ones that don’t provide nutritional information. Honestly though, when we go out to eat, we get what we want. It’s a treat. Not something we do a lot due to the expense. If I’m going to spend the money, it’s going to be for something I don’t make at home. There’s a menu decoder section which is nice for local restaurants so you can make better choices there too.

The most helpful are the supermarket and vending machine sections. Teens are bottomless snack pits. I can hardly keep up. I’m not sure why I’m not thin because they eat everything that’s not nailed down! I was surprised to see I was already making some pretty good decisions at the grocery store and I learned some good lunch packing substitutions.

This is a nice guide to helping your kids cut calories without them knowing you’re doing it. If you have really picky eaters, you might have a little more trouble with substitutions, but this book will give you plenty of suggestions to work with.

View this book on Amazon.com:Eat This Not That! for Kids!: Be the Leanest, Fittest Family on the Block!