Little Sugar Addicts or Raising a Moody Child

Little Sugar Addicts: End the Mood Swings, Meltdowns, Tantrums, and Low Self-Esteem in Your Child Today

Author: Kathleen DesMaisons

Sugar Is Not Love

Do you have a smart, creative, loving child who is also cranky, inattentive, and sometimes downright obnoxious? If you’ve written off this negative behavior as “typical” for your child’s age—whether toddler or teen—stop and think: Does your child have a taste for soda, sugary breakfast cereals, and treats like candy and cookies? Does she eat regularly scheduled meals or skip them? What, exactly, does he drink and snack on throughout the day?

Your child’s behavior may be linked to diet—specifically to the sugar in obvious sources like sweets and soda and to hidden sugars that lurk in many foods, fruit-based drinks, and “healthy” snacks like granola bars. And if your son or daughter is sugar sensitive, misbehavior and moodiness can be aggravated by missed or late meals and junk foods.

Now, bestselling author Kathleen DesMaisons offers you a workable solution for getting back your child by changing his diet—without creating a sense of deprivation, without setting unrealistic goals, and without turning sugar into “forbidden fruit.” This book offers:

• A step-by-step program, backed by years of research, for gradually improving the food your child eats—you and your whole family will benefit!
• Tips for navigating the sugar-laden world of birthday parties, holidays, and school cafeterias
• Ways to incorporate healthy snacking and regular mealtimes into your child’s day, including suggestions for meals and snacks, plus recipes

Little Sugar Addicts isn’t about strange foods, dramatic lifestyle changes, orcomplicated menus—just support, guidance, and real-life suggestions from other parents that work. It will help you make the connection between the addictive qualities of sugar and negative behavior and offer a healthy solution you and your whole family can live with.

Publishers Weekly

Addiction expert DesMaisons, who addressed adult "sugar sensitivity" in Potatoes Not Prozac, now turns her attention to the younger generation. Sugar sensitivity can be linked to behavior, health and emotions, she says. In kids who are especially vulnerable to sugar, imbalances in brain and body chemistry are the cause of low serotonin, low beta-endorphin and volatile blood sugar. Consequently, kids react to sugar as if it were a drug, embarking on a craving and crashing cycle. DesMaisons advocates modifying children's biochemistry by changing their diets, and suggests parents explain to kids that sugar has a connection to their mood and feelings, and then get them to help keep a food journal. She also suggests parents alter their own use of sugar before they start on their child. Although DesMaisons advocates cutting out sugar, she isn't a purist; hot dogs and chips are occasionally allowed, along with healthy snacks and whole wheat bread. Though some parents may balk at the monumental nature of the task, DesMaison's sugar-free plan is practical and gradual, and she includes kid-tested recipes as well. (On sale July 27) Forecast: Although the idea of sugar being bad for children is certainly not new, Potatoes Not Prozac made DesMaisons a recognizable name, so this will new book should sell well. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

DesMaisons (The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program) asserts that sugar not only affects behavior but for some people with a sugar sensitivity also becomes a drug. Addressing parents of children of different ages, she explains that sugar sensitivity is the root of many behavioral problems. DesMaisons began developing her theory as the director of an alcohol treatment center; it's not surprising, then, that this reads much like a manual for parents of a child in drug or alcohol treatment. DesMaisons provides excellent suggestions for involving children in the process, as well as excellent recipes. However, given her controversial topic, she should have directly referenced medical literature rather than throwing all her sources together in the bibliography. Also, her resource section might have been more useful had it included more than a glorified ad for her consulting firm and its products. Still, patrons are likely to ask for this one; larger collections should probably purchase.-KellyJo Houtz Griffin, Eatonville, WA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Interesting textbook: A Year in High Heels or Training for Young Distance Runners

Raising a Moody Child: How to Cope with Depression and Bipolar Disorder

Author: Jill S Goldberg Arnold Phd

Every day can be an ordeal for families struggling with the difficult, moody, "impossible" behavior that may point to childhood depression or bipolar disorder. Effective help for kids does exist, but it often requires a customized combination of medication, therapy, coping skills, and support. From esteemed clinician and researcher Dr. Mary Fristad and fellow treatment expert Dr. Jill Goldberg Arnold, this indispensable book explains how treatment works and what additional steps parents can take at home to help children with mood disorders--and the family as a whole--improve the quality of their lives. Explained are why symptoms look so different (and can be so much harder to manage) in children and teens than in adults, how to find the right doctor or therapist, and how to help kids develop their own "coping toolkits." Bursting with practical tools, FAQs, and examples, the book covers everything from dealing with medical crises to resolving school problems, sibling conflicts, and marital stress.

Table of Contents:

	Preface
Pt. I	Understanding Your Chid's Problems
1	Difficult, Temperamental, Impossible: The Challenge of Raising a Moody Child	3
2	What's Wrong with My Child?	15
3	Why My Child?	50
4	The First Step in Getting Good Treatment Is Getting a Good Evaluation	60
Pt. II	Treatment
5	Getting the Big Picture	97
6	What Do Medications Offer?	117
7	What Should I Expect from Therapy?	138
Pt. III	Helping Your Child Cope
8	Ten Principles for Managing a Mood Disorder	159
9	Coping Skills for Moody Children	174
10	Mood Disorders in the School Setting: What You Need to Know to Help Your Child Cope	188
11	Crisis Management	212
Pt. IV	Helping Your Family Live with a Mood Disorder
12	How Mood Disorders Affect Family Life	223
13	How Can You Help Siblings?	231
14	How to Take Care of Yourself	239
	Resources	247
	References	251
	Index	255
	About the Authors	260