"Eat This, Don't Eat That" was released some time ago and got solid reviews. Is it a book that can help you and your overweight or obese child? Mostly yes, but maybe a little bit no.

To start, "Eat This, Don't Eat That" is put together very well and has some very practical advice for anyone who wishes to read it. One of the many very informative chapters explains childhood nutrition in eight simple rules, geared toward the education of both parents and children about the problems seen in today's diets… one of which is misinformation. Most people know about proper nutrition and what they need to attain it but society has set of traps that people tend to fall into. For instance, the super-sized food proportions, no mealtime structure and the hidden sugar in foods.

The book is also great because it makes comparisons between some popular kids foods, forcing parents to think about these foods next time you buy them. In most cases, I was surprised with the results. For example, did you know that Spaghetti O's have fewer calories and less fat than Macaroni & Cheese? It also provides recommendations for things to pick off of menus for kids when your family eats out - such as choosing grilled chicken breasts over chicken fingers, and so on.

There are only two minor problems that I can for see with the book:

1. Misuse - in the wrong hands or without taking the entire message of the whole book in to consideration, people that follow specific parts of this book but not others could get in to trouble.

2. Not enough emphasis on fitness - changing your diet is only half of the battle when it comes to losing weight and living healthier.

It's not enough to use the book as a guide to eating out right or making convenience purchases. Make sure to read the book thoroughly and understand the concepts it is teaching so that you can incorporate this into your child's daily life. It doesn't matter if you are making healthy restaurant choices once a week and feeding your child too much of the wrong stuff the rest of the week.

A big reason for the rise in childhood obesity is the sedentary lives that people tend to lead, which the book fails to put a lot of emphasis on. It does, however, mention some fantastic exercises for the entire family near the end. Bear in mind that the way to get children healthy is to get them off the couch, away from the video games and outside playing and exercising.

Overall, I would say that this book is worth reading, so long as the parents that do read it take it upon themselves to supplement the information provided in the book with some exercise. This (healthy diet, fun, group exercises) is the approach taken at weight loss camps and has been proven to be successful. However, in and of itself, this book can be helpful in getting your child on the path to living better.