Who's the New Kid? by Heidi Bond with Jenna Glatzer

This is an amazing story, and so inspiring. With child obesity on the rise, this is a very import and timely book.

At nine years old, Breanna weighed 186 pounds. Her mom cooked good tasting meals without thinking about health. Her daughter was a good eater and her doctor had said Breanna would grow into her weight. But she hadn't. Her weight had grown right along with Breanna.

The book is written from the mother's viewpoint. She did not have weight struggles and didn't know about eating healthy foods. There were chips in the pantry and ice cream in the freezer.

Heidi began to realize that something needed to be done. She was seeing signs of depression in her daughter. She read about childhood obesity and knew the future was not promising for Breanna. She and her husband tried locking the cupboards and used other strategies – to no avail.

Then came the day that changed everything. Heidi had been invited by a neighbor to go for a walk. It changed her life and eventually the life of her family. Heidi developed a new routine for exercise and healthy eating habits. She had a zero tolerance policy.

Life began to change but the going was not easy. It was not smooth sailing. She found that relying on the Lord was essential. 

Heidi notes that child obesity is different than adult obesity. Getting the child to make the right choices, to have that intrinsic motivation to choose healthy food, is a difficult path. But she learned the lesson of just starting where you are, even if you don't have all the answers or the way planned out. Heidi has added suggestions and tips at the end of each chapter that include valuable information and great resources.

Breanna dropped 40 percent of her body weight, going from a morbidly obese child to a healthy and energetic girl. What an inspiration! I highly recommend this book for parents of children struggling with weight issues.

There are several Appendixes, including a forty day exercise plan, a forty day food plan, recipes, a shopping list, food journal, and an inspiring forty day devotional from Scripture.

You can watch the Good Morning America segment on Breanna's weight loss here.

You can read the CNN article and see photos here.

You can check out Breanna's website at www.breannabond.com.

I am taking part in a blog tour of this book and you can read other reviews here.

Heidi Bond and her daughter, Breanna, have appeared on several television programs, and together have helped countless families beat childhood obesity. The family lives in Clovis, California.

Jenna Glatzer is the author of 23 books. She has written hundreds of articles for magazines. She lives in Stony Brook, New York.

Tyndale House, 320 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Litfuse for the purpose of an independent and honest review.