The Teen Lifestyle Medicine Handbook: The Power of Healthy Living

Review
A book for our times! The Teen Lifestyle Medicine Handbook is a wonderful way to introduce the power of healthy living to teens in middle school and high school. Created in collaboration with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine with a team of experts, including pediatricians, teachers, lifestyle medicine practitioners, and a student, it is fact-based yet highly engaging and entertaining! Students, teachers, parents, grandparents, coaches, and mentors will enjoy learning and sharing the information presented in this information-packed book. --Dexter W. Shurney, MD, MBA, MPH, FACLM, DipABLM; President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine
Our kids provide us with a unique window of opportunity to promote health and prevent disease. Despite a century of efforts, heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death. Currently, the prevalence of majority of cardiovascular risk factors is around or above 20% among American youth! As per the recent 2020 American Heart Association statistics, the signal for the Healthy Diet Index amongst American kids ages 2-19 is almost undetectable. This is at a time when diet-induced risk is the leading cause of disease, disability, and death. This is also at a time when 7 in 10 young people are failing to qualify for military service due to obesity. The current risk factor burden among American youth is considered a national security threat! The onus is on all of us in healthcare and the society at large to bring about a paradigm shift. There is no place better to start, than our kids. This book by Dr. Frates and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine team is a great resource to empower our youth with the tools and the pillars of lifestyle medicine to lead healthy and productive lives. --Koushik Reddy, MD, FACLM; Director, Interventional Cardiology, Tampa VA Hospital
The Teen Lifestyle Medicine Handbook is an amazing resource, packed with evidence-based information that will introduce teens to the importance of developing healthy habits. This book is highly engaging and provides teens with knowledge that will empower them to make their own SMART choices. As a physician and mother, I am thrilled to share copies of The Teen Lifestyle Medicine Handbook with my children and their friends, as well as parents and teachers. --Amy Comander, MD; Medical Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center at Waltham (MA)
Teens are holding a bad hand. Not only have they inherited a climate crisis, but the health of the planet isn’t the only thing at risk. In fact, the current generation of young people is on track to be less healthy and live shorter lives than their parents. By age 10, nearly all kids already have fatty streaks in their arteries, which is the first sign of atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in the United States. And, what was once known as “adult-onset diabetes” is now referred to as “type 2 diabetes.” Why? Because grown-ups aren’t the only ones to get it these days. The disease is now found in children, too. While it’s hard to hear and even harder to believe, more and more children and teens are experiencing long-term, chronic, and reoccurring diseases. Is this every teen’s fate? Are they inevitable, or can they be prevented?
The fact that many chronic diseases, once thought to only affect adults, have been increasing in prevalence in adolescents, is alarming. Many of these diseases also happen to be preventable, though preventing disease is only the start of the benefits lifestyle medicine offers. Practicing lifestyle medicine principles, such as participating in physical activity, eating mostly whole, plant-based foods, and minimizing stress, can positively influence mental well-being, academic performance, and even athletic performance!
The Teen Lifestyle Medicine Handbook: The Power of Healthy Living was written for teens to not only educate them in lifestyle medicine principles, but more so to