cover image Boost Your Child's Immune System: A Program and Recipes for Raising Strong, Healthy Kids

Boost Your Child's Immune System: A Program and Recipes for Raising Strong, Healthy Kids

Lucy Burney. Newmarket Press, $14.95 (288pp) ISBN 978-1-55704-642-0

While there's no surefire way to improve good health through immunity, food can have a lot to do with it, says Burney, a nutrition specialist who has written three previous books on children's diets. Giving parents one more reason to make sure their children eat well, she explains what can be done to strengthen children's defenses and make them better able to fight off bugs and infections. She offers a basic introduction to how the immune system works, following that with a section on allergies and one on antibiotics. Burney breaks the rest of the book into age-specific chapters, from birth through age 18. Throughout, she emphasizes food that is fresh and full of immune-boosting nutrients, like vitamin A, beta-carotene, B-complex, iron and zinc. The recipes are easy to prepare and age-appropriate: e.g., fruit and vegetable purees for six- to nine-month-olds; Pasta with Sweet Corn, Carrots and Raisins for five- to 12-year-olds; Peanut Satay Spring Rolls for 13- to 18-year olds. Burney codes each recipe, telling if it is vegetarian, vegan, wheat-free, dairy-free or gluten-free. This is an understandable, useful guide for parents who want to instill healthy habits in their children-with the side benefit of boosting their immune systems.