iaedp member, mental health professional and educator,Iréné Celcer, MA, LCSW, has released a new book, 99 Tips to Reset the Table: Parenting in a Society Obsessed with Food, Weight, Obesity and Body Image (Graphite Press, November 2014)

In this book Irene writes about how as a parent, orchestrating a healthy family environment around food and eating is never easy. Our children regularly encounter societal messages of what and how to eat to make their bodies thin, trim, slim, buff, strong or otherwise “ideal.” Add unhealthy foods and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. The tips in this book provide parental tools to encourage eating that’s healthy and fun, enhancing the pleasure of family life when it comes to food, eating, and body image.

Everyone is bombarded with pressures to eat (or not eat) in ways that have nothing to do with simple hunger. And as parents we sometimes feel trapped in an impossible bind: Kids need to eat, but how do we go about feeding them nutritious food in a healthy manner without moving to an all-organic farm? News reports on the perils of obesity in children, coupled with worries about eating disorders and uncertainties about how to avoid body image problems and low self-esteem, seem inescapable. Such issues are uncovered daily in the celebrities our daughters and sons admire as they follow stories on television, in the movies, and in social media.

We are coerced by social and cultural forces to adjust our eating in a manner that’s inconsistent with our own biology. Instead of eating because it’s instinctive–according to a built-in desire designed by nature–we eat to achieve goals that have nothing to do with eating at all.

This book is about bringing a voice of balance, trust and joy to your entire life–not just the kitchen or dinning room. You’ll learn how to develop a family lifestyle that promotes healthy and nutritious eating, encourages a positive body image, and supports parental responses that are beneficial to the psychological well-being of your children. Like the injections the pediatrician gave your children when they were babies, these tips will help inoculate your children against future challenges with eating, food and body image.

Book also available in Spanish. Contact author directly.

About the Author:

Iréné Celcer, MA, LCSW, is a mental health professional and educator with expertise in eating disorders, especially Binge Eating Disorder, body image perceptions, and women’s issues. Her commitment to public education is evidenced by her role as a regular guest on CNN. Ms. Celcer is bilingual and her books can be found in English and in Spanish. For more information and to purchase this book, please feel free to visit her website or email Irene at celcer@comcast.net.

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