Hijacked
How Your Brain is Fooled by Food
by David A. Kessler, MD
Tundra Books, 2013
ISBN 978 1 77049 503 6 (hc)
$21.99, 170 pp, young adult
tundrabooks.com
Hijacked, How Your brain is Fooled by Food is the Young Reader’s edition of the New York Times bestseller, The End of Eating. Dr. Kessler has a long line of credentials which qualify him to speak to the issue of obesity and overeating in contemporary North American society. In this book he uses research data and his knowledge as a pediatrician to write for teens who are interested in healthy nutrition. Using the mantra “sugar, fat, and salt,” as well as “high – sugar, high – fat” over 100 times in the 170 pages, the author repeatedly makes the serious point that although we live in a complex world of marketing and manipulation by the food industry, the solutions to the problem of obesity can be quite simple and rewarding once a person chooses to rewire his/her brain. Following an exposé of tactics used in the industry to keep people eating through additions of sugar, fat and salt to food products rather than providing healthy nutrition, Dr. Kessler provides the reader with self-help strategies to develop a healthy eating lifestyle for the long term.
Classroom Connections: Teachers who are interested in helping their students make healthy lifestyle choices will want to add this book to their class library, or use sections to enhance lessons on nutrition and lifestyle. Dr. Kessler neither patronizes nor lectures, but provides straightforward and clear information. This is a must-read for young people concerned about what is going into their bodies.
Review by Kent Miller.
This review is from Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Apr/May 2014 issue.
