Kids thrive at every size How to nourish your big, small, or in-between child for a lifetime of health and happiness

A good, common parental goal is to raise kids who are physically and mentally healthy. Castle, a pediatric nutritionist and mother of four, gives concrete tips for increasing the odds for success. Castle divides her guide into two parts, a concise look at "the building blocks of health" and a longer discussion of "the eight pillars of wellness." These are family culture, sleep, movement, feeding, eating, food, screens and media, and self-love. Body image consumes kids, not just their parents, from a young age. By middle school, half of girls and a third of boys want a thinner body. "Bigorexia" refers to boys preoccupied with leanness and muscularity. Castle helps parents worried about their children's size and appetite with what she calls an "impossible choice: restrict, push, or do nothing." The basics, including getting enough sleep and iron, go a long way. Parents can expect to learn good ways to help kids with the BLAHS (boredom, loneliness, avoidance, habit, situation).

This solid manual from pediatric dietitian Castle (The Smart Mom's Guide to Healthy Snacking) provides guidance on how to give children ages three through 12 a healthy relationship with food and their body. She explains that fat levels are determined by genetics and that restrictive dieting can be harmful for kids who naturally have more body fat. Rather than focusing on weight, Castle encourages parents to focus on their child's overall well-being by addressing how diet, "family culture," movement, screen time, "self-love," and sleep affect their life. Cautioning that forcing children to finish their vegetables can generate lasting negative associations with such foods, Castle instead recommends letting children decide how much they want to eat. Exercise should aspire to improve "cardiorespiratory fitness," she argues, suggesting that parents might let their kids have more outdoor play time, or else make indoor activities more active (watching TV while "sitting on a stability ball instead of a chair," for instance). Castle makes a strong case for decoupling the association between health and size, and the advice on bolstering children's self-esteem with words of affirmation demonstrates a shrewd awareness of both the psychological and the physical effects of sizeism. It's a helpful guide for raising healthy, body-positive children. Agent: Lauren Galit, LKG. (Aug.)