The Highly Healthy Child

"There is a powerful connection between a child's physical body and his or her emotional, relational, and spiritual health." -Dr. Walter Larimore You want the best for your child, especially when it comes to his or her health. Cut through popular misconceptions, alert yourself to the surprising and proven connections between a child's physical, emotional, relational and spiritual health, and discover the best, most up-to-date resources for raising a child who is not merely healthy, but highly healthy. Dr. Walt Larimore equips you as a parent to: -assess your child's present health, physically, emotionally, spiritually and relationally -determine his or her areas of strength and areas that need work -clearly understand the essentials that will lead to maximum, well-balanced health for your son or daughter -implement proven strategies to strengthen your child's health in each area needing improvement No matter what the obstacles you face, you'll be encouraged that your child can become more highly healthy-and you'll learn, in very practical ways, how to make a difference in your child's health immediately. You'll get the most out of this book when you invest the time to take action. Take notes. Talk it over with your spouse. Get started today! This is a treasure trove of highly relevant material, including the best Internet resources, covering everything from nutrition guidelines, immunization checklists, relational improvements, tips on how to find just the right doctor and build your child's complete health care team, nurturing maturity and a healthy self concept, insights on boosting your child's physical fitness . . . and much more. No stone is left unturned in this all-in-one resource. The Highly Healthy Child is absolutely indispensable for your parenting library and is a powerful tool for helping your child enjoy great health now and into adulthood.

The Highly Healthy Child Copyright © 2004 by Walt Larimore Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Larimore, Walter L. The highly healthy child / Walt Larimore, with Stephen and Amanda Sorenson- 1st. Ed. P. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-310-24029-8 1. Children-Health and hygiene 2. Children-Diseases-Prevention. 3. Child development. I. Sorenson, Stephen II. Sorenson, Amanda, 1953- III. Title. RJ101 .L37 2004 649.1-dc22 2003022630 This edition printed on acid-free paper. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked The Message are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for their content for the life of this book. Interior design by Michelle Espinoza Printed in the United States of America 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 /. DC/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 We want to hear from you. Please send your comments about this book to us in care of zreview@zondervan.com. Thank you. What Is a Highly Healthy Child? Eight-year-old Daryl was a very impressive young boy. I don't think I've ever met a person with a more positive mind-set. His attitude was always upbeat, his laugh infectious. I wish you could have seen his smile. It could light up even the darkest room. Daryl was loved by his family and had a deep faith in God. In short, he was incredibly healthy emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. He was more highly healthy than most of my patients, and more healthy than most people I had met. Daryl's overall health was all the more impressive because of where I met him. He was visiting "Give Kids the World," a very special village near Disney World where dying children and their families can escape the world of hospitals and medical treatments and enjoy a week of being lavished with hugs, smiles, and entertainment by their favorite Disney characters. Although Daryl was as bald as a cucumber and skin and bones from end-stage cancer, he was living life to the fullest. He greatly expanded my understanding of health. He demonstrated to me what it means to be healthy-not just disease- and symptomfree -but whole in the most important ways. Having interacted with Daryl, I knew I needed to get to know his parents. Young children are so influenced by their parents that whenever I meet children who are as impressive as Daryl (or who are negatively impressive), I want to know more about their parents and home setting. Mark and Sue were indeed remarkable people. I was blessed to be able to spend a little time with them. Mark and Sue worked to keep their marriage healthy, and they considered the job of raising highly healthy children to be the most important one on earth. They knew their children's health wasn't the responsibility of doctors or schools, churches or coaches, the YMCA or Scouting groups. Of course these people and groups could help, but Mark and Sue knew that the personal investment they made in their children was crucial. Although their son was withering physically and would live no longer than a few months, they had truly done their job well. WHAT IS HEALTH? Initially,