Flashes of Panic

I know, it’s been a prolific day for me. I’m putting off doing my taxes.

I got a large-ish package from Breakaway Books in the mail on Friday which I hadn’t been expecting. It turned out to be an advance copy of Happy Feet, Healthy Food by Carol Goodrow, and I remembered Carol asking for my address a few months ago.

Carol is an acquaintance of mine from my days at RW. I tried to help her bootstrap in to the world of running an expanding website, and (she claims) I was often the only one who would answer her questions when quite a lot of the rest of the company seemed to be hoping she would just run her site and keep quiet. I still see her from time to time at events, and occasionally answer a technical question (or, in some cases, help her figure out what her question is, by which point the answer is obvious.)

This book of hers is, like her site, a demonstration of the idea that the best and most effective approaches to some problems can be the simplest. The problem, in this case, is one that we read about regularly nowadays (and, in my case, write about): our national obesity problem, in particular how it starts with our children.

Happy Feet, Healthy Food isn’t a weight loss manual, nor is it a how-to exercise book for kids that might be read once and forgotten. It is a week by week log, encouraging nothing more difficult than regular participation in active, fun things kids already know how to do.

The idea is simple and compelling, so much so that Amby Burfoot (a person for whom I hold a great deal of respect) wrote in his foreword, “This book you are holding is a work of genius.” Get used to being active and eating well when you’re young, and you’re not only less likely to be an obese child, you’re more likely to carry the good habits into the rest of your life.

This book isn’t about any secret or quick fix; it’s about establishing habits. It’s about parents getting outside and doing fun, active things with their kids instead of sitting in front of the television. (Or computer.) It’s subversive. Who knew?

Of course, I don’t (yet) have children, so it may be a while before I have an actual use for the book (other than saying good things about it.) Still, having the copy sitting out on the table makes me feel like a radical, which is pretty strange itself considering how it looks.