In school, on the playground, and sometimes even in their own homes, heavy kids as young as age four or five describe relentless harassment. As many as 60 percent of obese children are victimized by peers, and studies have shown that a kindergartener would prefer to sit next to a child with a physical handicap over one who is obese. Whether nice, attractive, accomplished, or smart, obese children are made to feel different from other children, often called terrible names. "Pig." "Moose!" "You're disgusting!" "You're gross." "How can you stand yourself?" Children sometimes hear these epithets from members of their own families, who attempt a kind of "tough love" approach to deal with the problem. When children are admonished about their weight, they feel worse about themselves. This approach simply does not work.So, how can we address and treat childhood obesity? The BOUNCE® plan is a program Dr. Wendy Scinta created to combat child and adolescent obesity. It combines recent research on obesity treatment with her personal experience as an obesity medicine specialist, working directly with hundreds of obese children for nearly a decade. And over those years, Dr. Scinta realized a necessary trend. It's time to bring family back to the dinner table. In this book, Dr. Scinta shows you how to work with your child and your family to develop healthy eating patterns and a healthy lifestyle that will yield a lifetime of benefits. This book will empower families and give readers the information needed to address the child's weight issues, both as a family and as a team. Dr. Scinta includes menus, recipes, and even information on how to talk to the family physician, to help parents be the best advocate for their child. Readers can even take it a step further, working within their communities to set up healthy streets, towns and schools so that every child in the community has a chance to succeed. With 1 in 3 children struggling with a weight issue and no end in sight, it is time for all of us to take matters into our own hands and turn this childhood obesity epidemic around, for good!