Robert S GotlinKirja-arvosteluja

Where this book is useful:

1. Learning how to select the right sport, sports team, and/or coach for your child.
2. Knowing what exercise types are appropriate for various ages of children.

Where this book is NOT useful:

1. Planning interesting and varied meals. The menus are boring, even by kid standards, and seem very stilted toward obtaining the maximum number of 'nutrition points' in the fewest number of ingredients.

2. Obtaining calorie intake recommendations personalized to your child's age, size, and activity level. While the chapter gives a wide range of calories possibly needed for each age range, no guidance is given in how to determine if your particular child (due to size and activity level) is likely to need to consume towards the upper or lower end of the range.

3. Helping parents with low-weight, high-activity level children. The nutritional information given in this book, as in almost every book I've picked up along similar lines, ASSUMES that the fit means thin, and that parents who need help raising 'fit children' need to help their children lose weight, not gain weight or just gain strength.

while the information in dr. rob's book was fine, i didn't find that it was all that useful for our family. my son is already involved in several sports, and is pretty active on his own; we're pretty health-aware when it comes to diet. so while the book had good information, there was nothing new or educational in it for us.

I was not particularly impressed with the book. It's very focused on organized sports. I agree with his premise but what was shared in the book can be found elsewhere. We are not a sport family, so sporting-themed meals won't really work for us. I'm sure it's a useful book for some families, just not mine.

The description of this book led me to believe that it would cover all ages of kids, and all levels of activity. I was disappointed on both points. This is basically a book on how to be a good sports parent. The book is entirely focused on sports, and on kids about 6 and up. There is really very little actual information "meat" in this book. There was very little information in this book that I found helpful.

Good basic guide to fitness for kids. Not sure the catchy sports named menu items will be enough to convince reluctant eaters to try healthier food options.

The copy I received seems to be an early unfinished version of the book. Topics were only briefly covered in some chapters and coverage was inconsistent chapter to chapter (i.e. recommended sports, equipment and meal plans do not carry over consistently). The chapter on equipment included buying guides for Baseball, Basketball, Soccer and Tennis. The chapter on meal plans included 7-day plans for Baseball, Basketball, Lacrosse, Soccer and All-Star sports. The meal plans included food substitutions. Plans varied from 1300 to 1800 calories per day, which is well under the amount required (per the table provided a few pages before the meal plans). The concept of this book is great but I think the content needs to be developed before I could recommend it. Chapters are not balanced in content: there are 11 chapters but the chapter on meal plans alone equals about a third of the content of the total book. The Appendices includes 'resources' all of which are websites, these are listed by broad category without annotation. there is an indication that an index will be included in the completed version of this book.

This book is very helpful for sport-playing children and their parents; however, I found the title misleading as the book primarily centres on sports. Overall, it is worth reading and keeping on hand if your children are into sports. I found the menu ideas and recipes to be the most helpful.

This book is very basic. I have two young children and I was really excited to read this book, but once I started I realized that it wasn't giving me any information that I didn't already know. Maybe that means that I'm already doing this right thing by my own children, but I really felt that this book couldn't have gone the extra mile. It fell short.

This is a great practical guide for parents that covers a broad variety of topics related to fitness in kids. There are chapters on the importance of fitness, kid-friendly exercises and warm-ups, along with individual and team sports with age-specific recommendations and tips. There is a whole chapter on picking out the right equipment for growing kids from shoes to balls to rackets. There is a great chapter on how to coach kids effectively and what your goals as a coach (and a parent) really need to be. There are several chapters on good nutrition that have both tips and some fun recipies to try out. Written in a friendly but informative style, this book is a sound resource that nearly any parent will find useful.

I'm torn on what to say about this book. It has good information, but it doesn't flow well at all and doesn't fit the title. A whole third of the book consists of recommended diet plans named after various sports ("World Series"). I do not see any differences in the nutritional value of the soccer diet vs the basketball vs the lacrosse. It would make more sense to cut out the cutesy names and just say "these are good balanced meals for any child". I did appreciate the nutritional guidelines for children (calories, protein, etc) as those are often hard to find for younger children. There are very informative guides to choosing the proper sports equipment - but don't leagues/schools provide that guidance? Dr. Rob answers many questions about team sports - mainly about what not to do as a parent. The chapter on drugs and alcohol is laughable. The section on stretching provides some basic stretches only.
I thought this was a guide to raising fit kids? All I'm finding is how to pick basic team sports equipment, menus and a few reprimands on not being a crazed sports parent. Where are the exercises? Fun physical things to do as a family? How to encourage your child to be active?
All in all - good info, wrong title.

This book is a very good book for parents of serious, competitive athletes and amateur coaches. To me, it wasn't a book that was extremely relevant to parents of regular kids that aren't athletic that need help staying fit. There was a small exercise section that did have some exercises that children who do not participate in sports could do, but overall I'd say the book is geared towards parents of children who participate in team sports. That said, the book is very detailed and gives great advice on many things. There is a breakdown of each age group and what that age child gets from their sport experience. Dr. Rob tells the best age to start sports, gives a guide to buying sports equipment for each sport, and includes a section on healthy menus and yummy recipes that can benefit all children. The section for coaches and the section on how to manage injuries both were very detailed and would be very beneficial to the parent of a competitive athlete who is also a coach of their child's team. Overall, I would recommend this book to any parent who has a child that participates in team sports. I think it's a worthwhile book that can teach any parent about keeping their little athlete safe and healthy.

As parents, don't we wish children came with instruction booklets? In the area of fitness, Gotlin has truely answered this call. While a bit preachy in chapter one, Gotlin quickly moves into meatier subjects dealing with exercise for kids, team sports, and diet. Jewels of the publication are sections outlining how children at different stages of development deal with issues in team sports. He also includes a section outlining how to choose equipment for the young sports enthusiast. For example, how to choose a tennis racket for a six year old. (Who knew there were guidelines? Certainly not the people at the athletics store). The end of the book extends great information about the childhood diet with menus and healthy recipes (my kids loved the healthier Mac and Cheese recipe). It is very much a worthy read.

This is an extremely helpful book for parents trying to keep their children fit and healthy in a world that advertises every kind of junk food imaginable and offers lots of sedentary fun (video games, television, computers, etc.) Dr. Rob gives great suggestions for parents, such as helping children choose a sport, buying the right equipment, weight training and stretching for children, nutrition, and the parent/coach relationship. Some of my favorite aspects of the book include the suggestions that Dr. Rob gives to coaches and overzealous parents (sports are supposed to be fun), not all sports are appropriate for all kids (would the child like to be on a team or learn a more individualized sport), and the menus and recipes. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but I soon will. One problem he might not have covered enough is how to transition kids who have gotten used to eating junk food and who do not want to be pulled away from the video game. Well, I guess one doctor and coach can't perform miracles. Some of it will have to be up to the parents. Trying out some of the recipes instead of suddenly adhering to the menu plans is still a step in the right direction. Taking Dr. Rob's ideas for becoming more active and convincing the kids to add a new activity or two into their lives should be doable for most parents. Dr. Rob also warns about expecting too much. Overachieving parents who load their kids down with too many activities are making as big a mistake as those who allow the kids to be couch potatoes. This is a fun book to read and is just the right length. It is not a long and complex tome about childhood health. Instead, most parents can scan this book and put the ideas into practice fairly easily. I would like to see more information about the younger kids, though. What do you do about an overweight toddler? Maybe Dr. Rob will consider that for his next book? In the meantime, I recommend this one.

When my oldest was young I was pretty clueless about how to get on a team and what was expected for equipment, practices, etc. I had no idea what sports injuries were common or how to avoid them. I thought I knew about good nutrition but had no idea how to get him to eat a balanced diet. Dr. Rob addresses all these issues in this volume in an easy, conversational, helpful style. I feel much better prepared to be the team mom this time around.

His first point is that fitness is a family affair. One can not expect to raise fit kids if the parent is not willing to commit to a healthy lifestyle, which includes playing, being active, eating and shopping with a balanced, healthy outlook. Building the right habits for a healthy, vibrant life takes the whole family working and playing together. Once you get that pattern ingrained in the parent's expectations the rest comes along.

My favorite chapters are the ones on what sports equipment you will need for different sports, the exercise guide, the descriptions and treatment for common injuries, and the meal plans. There are some yummy recipes using fresh, healthy ingredients put into diet plans in categories like "World Series Game" and "NBA Finals".

I highly recommend this book for families with kids and coaches working with kids in sports programs. Good, balanced advice in an easily accessed format.

This book focuses on children, children's health, children's nutrition, and children in sports. with a particular emphasis on the latter. I think that, as a book about children in sports, it is pretty good. The section about parents as coaches was very good, and I'll probably re-read it again once I start coaching ball for my kids (if I ever do). However, I was disappointed in a couple of things. First is that the book is touted as having fitness guidelines for kids of every age. Maybe I simply have a different set of criteria for what constitutes "kid," but this book is about ages 6-12. While I understand that it doesn't include teens, kids (to me) also means children younger than 6. He has a little bit of nutritional information for children under 6, but not much. It's also very heavily sports-oriented, rather than how to incorporate and achieve overall fitness into your life. The nutritional information was good, but I have doubts about the success rates of using words like "baseball diet" to get your child to eat better food.

In short, if you're looking for something to help you with ideas about how to incorporate fitness and health into your sports-hating child's life, this probably isn't the book for you. If you're looking for something for younger children, this book also isn't for you. If you're looking for general guidelines, nutrtional information, and sports-oriented fitness for older children, this book is for you.½

Not a diet book, not an exercise manual, this is a family guide to all-around fitness. While there is healthy eating advice, this direct, simple book is more concerned with encouraging activity and wellness for the whole family.
Specific areas include casual activity; focused sports proper techniques, equipment, and concerns for younger athletes; coaching and motivation; safety; and youth substance abuse prevention. Healthy diet for active lifestyles is substantially covered as well, in simple, basic terms with specific examples and sample menus and choices.
There is a positive message that every family can find ways to improve their overall wellness together, without coercion or pain. However, I would have prefered some mention and contact information for organizations which can assist in finding activities for special needs family members (such as Special Olympics, The ARC). To be fair, the fact that the book includes URLs to some related organizations is appreciated and is more than commonly included in similar books.
The psychological, nutrititional, and medical advice all seem sound and up-to-date (which is to be expected given the author's background, but which is nevertheless gratifying given how much misinformation is frequently published in other works).
Overall I recommend this as an excellent addition to the home, school, or public library.

Dr. Rob’s Guide to Raising Fit Kids by Dr. Robert S. Gotlin.
Overall I thought this was a very good book with a lot of useful information. In first chapter, Fitness is a family affair, Dr. Rob states, “Our sit-down lifestyle often leads to obesity, which has the potential to kill us and our children. “The American lifestyle is toxic.” (Pg. 7) I really appreciated Dr. Rob’s perspective that if we are to have fit and healthy kids, we have to do it as a family – parents must model the behavior changes they want to see in their children. We home school our two children and physical fitness is definitely a family issue for us. The book is full of excellent ideas and suggestions, along with helpful information about safety and necessary equipment for different sports. I do have a few criticisms, though. One is that his section on caloric requirements for children and the meal plans are a little too complex for the average reader and do not correspond to each other. If the average calorie requirement for a 9 to 13 year old boy is 2,600, then why do most of the meal plans for active, athletic children playing basketball, baseball, Lacrosse, soccer, track and field, etc, have only 1,200 to 1,800 calories? That just doesn’t add up. Otherwise, I really appreciated the important information on things such as; how to correctly fit athletic shoes, how to avoid common injuries and the glycemic index and protein gram charts. Altogether, a worthwhile book if you don’t mind getting out your calculator to adjust the meal plans for your own kids and family.

"Dr. Rob's Guide to Raising Fit Kids" is a good try but falls far short of being an authoritative guide to fitness in children. It briefly covers such diverse topics as stretching, family fitness, team sports, equipment selection, and sports injuries. Then the author changes focus and attempts to provide fun, child-friendly nutrition plans and recipes. Despite their creative sports-themed titles, the menus seem bland and ordinary. For much more information on the subject, I recommend "Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook." Dr. Rob has provided an interesting book on an important topic, but the coverage is much too shallow.

Dr. Rob's Guide to Raising Fit Kids is a good guide that covers a variety of topics, both physical and psychological. It covers good ways to approach touchy subjects, both with children and other adults in their lives. It includes extensive information on meal planning and general health, and even covers common injuries in children, their symptoms, and their treatment.

I was especially appreciative of his perspective on how to encourage children and help them solve problems they may encounter in team sports. It also has a large section for being and dealing with coaches, with keen insights into how a child thinks, and how to turn a difficult situation into a positive one.

As criticism, I wasn't thrilled with his focus on BMI as the best metric indicator of health, and he seems to largely dismiss non-team sports, excepting only very young girls.

Overall, I would say that this is an excellent book for parents who have average or fit children who are interested in team sports. There are also some good tips, advice, and ideas for parents who have overweight children, but they are not the focus of this book.

I would certainly recommend this book, and I plan to pass my copy along to my brother, who is a girls' soccer coach.

I was interested in reviewing this book for LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program because I am a mother who has herself struggled with obesity. Having not been raised in a fit family, I am very interested in tips on how to convey to my children the joy I am increasingly finding in being active and eating well. This book aims to give many of the tips needed to do that successfully: “Dr. Rob’s Guide to Raising Fit Kids emphasizes that fitness in children is a family issue, and that it’s not just about food—it’s about how kids and their families spend their time.”

The information presented in the book is accurate as far as it goes. However, the organization and editing are all over the place, making it hard to extract the information the book does contain. It leaves gaping holes in the topics it purports to cover, and the paragraphs in any particular section bounce around in subject matter so much that it is easy to wonder if you accidentally turned too many pages.

The problems begin with the first page of chapter one. The opening paragraph talks about today’s family lifestyle: “Are you always on the run? Rushing from a hockey game to a school play to a quick dinner? Hurrying to get something out of the fridge and into the microwave?”

From this, the author concludes that we live in a “sit-down society.” Huh?

Similar leaps in logic and train of thought are common throughout the rest of the book. While they may be valid conclusions, a lot of the intermediate reasoning or facts are left out.

Subheadings in the chapters often don’t fit the content. For example, the section under subheading “Fitness Is Not Only for Children” contains text examining how body image is low among overweight children.

Chapter two (“Staying in Shape: Exercises for Kids”) contains information on stretching, and a very select group of exercises. It is illustrated with photos of children doing stretches. These are in black-and-white and not of the best quality. They would have been better off going with line drawings. The only ‘exercises’ covered are sit-ups, rapid run/walk, obstacle course run, and pull-ups. The next chapter jumps straight into ‘sports,’ leaving the reader to wonder about all the other potential exercises not mentioned.

Chapter four tries to be a guide to equipment to buy for your child’s sport, but only covers baseball, basketball, soccer, and tennis. Even with this limited selection of sports, the thoroughness of the buying guide is spotty. The section on soccer goes into detail on what kind of balls you might buy, while the section on basketball neglects to mention balls at all.

The rest of the book exhibits the same kind of spotty quality. In addition, the book tries at a chatty, friendly tone, but swings back and forth between excessive “buddy-buddy” and technical language.

I really wanted to enjoy this book as a valuable resource. The material is too shallow and inconsistent to be of any use, however. Save your money on this one.

Gah! I received this as an Early Reviewers book, it looked interesting, really wanted to read it, swear I put it in the TBR pile. Now it's months later and I still can not find the darn book! I promise to review it as soon as I find & read it.