What all this has taught me is that there is a distinct and crucial relationship between the way children eat and how healthy they are. The parents of my patients are made aware of my views on nutrition, and I never had a child in my office for a check-up without talking about what foods they consume. When a child turns three, I begin to talk to them directly during each visit about how best to build strong bodies by eating only the best foods. The children become involved in the process of choosing a diet that's nutritious and promotes good health.

The foods that should make up your child's entire diet should be a predominance of fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains. What I recommend within the pages of this site is a vegetarian or nearly vegetarian approach to eating. I believe that beef, fish, and poultry are not the best items to have on your shopping list. I believe that sugar in a child's diet should come naturally from fresh fruits. I believe that fats should be reduced to very small amounts.

At first, this way of eating may be very different from your present routine, but I want to give your children and your family the very best diet plan available. If you follow it closely and lovingly for your children they will receive the benefits of growing sturdy bones, having fewer illnesses, and being less allergic to various foods. Your children will be able to pay attention better in school and play longer and harder.

It is a tragic fact that the majority of children six years and older exhibit the beginnings of fatty deposits in their arteries. This information comes from autopsy reports from child accident victims. In the 1950's, a vast majority of the young American casualties of the Korean war showed significant narrowing of the coronary arteries. This was during a time when there was less information available about eating low-fat foods. Like these young soldiers, many of our pre-teen and teenagers are on their way to life-shortening heart disease!

Every meal you feed your child from his birth on can lead him to heart disease. Or, on the correct diet - the one I'll outline on this site - heart disease caused by fatty plaque collecting in the arteries does not have to be a threat at any age. The choice is up to you!

For most of you, the diet I've outlined is far different from the food that was served at the dinner table when you were growing up. It's a so-called new way of eating that is as old as our planet.

I believe that because of our physical make-up, we are meant to eat a meat-free, low-fat diet. Research by Dr. T. Colin Campbell of Cornell University in upstate New York has shown that the more vegetarian a diet is the healthier it is. Campbell, a nutritional biochemist, has studied the relationship between diet and disease for over 30 years. In a continuous study which started in 1983 involving thousands of subjects in China, he has found that a vegetarian diet helps build a resistance to chronic, degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Our bodies need fruits and vegetables, and the full range of rices, cereals, beans, and pastas that are available. The variety of foods on this plan is almost limitless. After some adjustment, I think you'll find a vegetarian or nearly vegetarian diet to be a comfortable, easy, healthy, and very tasty way to eat.

In addition to being a Pediatrician, I'm also a father. Parenting my daughter has added a dimension to my life that's quite apart from any medical training I've received. My main goal in life is to give her the optimal chance for a healthy lifetime. That's why she eats the diet I recommend here - one free of meat, poultry, dairy or fish. She is bright, alert, happy and fun-loving. She embodies all the traits that a parent or a pediatrician could hope for in a child. I want that same vibrant health for your children and for all youngsters. Without reservation, I believe in the easy, healthy diet you will read of on this site.

This is an exciting step for you to take - a step towards enhanced wellness. You probably have some important questions about the changes you're about to consider. As you read the pages of this site, you'll find answers to the questions my patients have asked me as they've made these critical changes to their family's diet. I've seen this diet work for my patients hundreds of times and in my own home for many years. I want you to see it work in your home, too.