Fat-Proof Your Family
God's Way to Forming Healthy Habits for Life
“I am the Lord who heals you,” says God in Exodus. This biblical quote sets the tone for Eaker’s weight-control plan based on lifelong healthy eating and exercise habits.
Eaker regards good nutrition as the greatest God-given tool for illness prevention. Two of the ten chapters in Fat-Proof Your Family focus on religion, one presenting biblical dietary information. In Genesis, God speaks highly of vegetarianism: “I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.” In Deuteronomy, God forbids the eating of animals designated as “unclean,” such as crabs and pigs—meats that are now ranked high in saturated fat. The other predominantly religious chapter stresses a healing triad of body, mind, and spirit. An imbalance in one of these areas leads to difficulties in the others. Eaker says, “being a couch potato hampers the pursuit of emotional and spiritual health.”
Other chapters stress eating a variety of foods in moderation, setting an example of healthy living for one’s children, and forming a foundation for adulthood by establishing good eating habits during the childhood and teen years. Losing body fat requires long-term effort, including sustained aerobic exercise, Eaker writes.
The author dramatizes the seriousness of the obesity by telling the story of Andy, whose weight gain causes feelings of rejection. He snacks on sweets “after a hard day,” does “a little paper work,” and watches TV. The reader is led to believe that Andy is an adult, but he is only a ten-year-old child who is grossly overweight. Obesity is a new childhood epidemic.
Eaker completed medical school at the Center for the Health Sciences of the University of Tennessee and his residency in gynecology and obstetrics at the Medical College of Georgia. His honors include an America’s Best Doctors listing and a Focus on Patient Education Award. He presents his religious approach to healing in seminars and on television and radio programs, such as Janet Parshall’s America and Moody Radio.
Quotes from experts and abundant references—including nutrition journals, books by physicians, and the Bible—indicate thorough research. One study, from the Pediatrics journal, reports increased obesity in children who have insensitive, disciplinarian parents.
Since Eaker praises plant sources of protein, a reference for information on vegetarian food combining would have been helpful. The book’s sound principles of family-oriented nutrition and exercise are especially relevant for Christian parents, but it can also help other adults lose weight and develop fitness.
This hybrid book intricately combines health and religion. For Eaker, the two are inseparable.
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
