Educational Media Reviews Online

Two volumes in one make up this set, where Volume One: Feeding Your Baby, covers birth to age one and Volume Two: Young Children Eating Right, covers ages one to six. The narrator in each volume is Rose, a registered dietitian and mother of two children. She talks to the viewer directly in some scenes and is the voiceover in other scenes of mom or dad feeding a baby or children feeding themselves.

The first volume instructs the viewer in the importance of breastfeeding, when to start solids, how to guide baby's self-feeding, and why family meals and exercise are essential. The second volume, using the USDA MyPyramid as its focal point, covers when to offer food and snacks and what kind to provide, as well as how to reduce food conflicts, the importance of eating together, and how to handle fast food.

At the end of each volume, a summary in list form goes over what was covered earlier; in Volume One, it delineates what to eat at each stage and in Volume Two, how to offer a variety of healthy foods.

A Facilitator's Guide comes with the DVD; it includes discussion questions, handouts, a list of resources, and additional information.

A diverse cast of real families illustrates the points the narrator is making. Dads feeding babies, moms encouraging babies with self-feeding, children helping with the grocery shopping and table setting, moms giving children choices but being clear about consequences, and dads cooking are just a few of the scenes.

Throughout the video, the emphasis is always on low-fat and healthy foods and on an active lifestyle.

Childhood Nutrition would be a good choice for use in high school child development classes or in hospital health classes for parents. Family practice physicians and pediatricians may also be interested in this video for their patients. Public library DVD collections would also be enhanced with this selection. The first-rate quality of this program makes it an excellent choice for any collection and an enjoyable viewing experience for parents or prospective parents.