Healthy Eating Every Day,
Ruth Ann Carpenter and Carrie E. Finley
Human Kinetics, 2005
ISBN: 0-7360-5186-4

reviewer: Kimberly Ann McCorquodale

The Healthy Eating Every Day (HEED) program presents information based on sound, relevant research that cover the benefits of eating a balance of foods in a healthy food pattern. The emphasis of the program is not on weight loss, although that probably would occur at a slow rate if necessary.

HEED is presented in 20 weekly sessions that include (in addition to the practical information on changing your eating habits) activities, checklists, and questions. Some sessions focus on behavior skills designed to assist you in changing negative habits. Other sessions emphasize nutrition skills with methods presented on how to eat out, shop, and cook in healthy ways. Based on current research, HEED focuses on 5 main nutrition goals shown most likely to improve health and reduce disease risk. These include:

• Increasing fruits and vegetables
• Decreasing fats
• Increasing dairy and dairy alternatives
• Increasing whole grains
• Balancing calories

HEED helps the participant target specific goals they need to improve, so in that way the program can be customized for individual needs. I like that the program encourages you to make small changes slowly and doesn't ask you to make drastic changes quickly. Most of us, when we decide to improve ourselves (like making a New Year's Resolution), want to do it all at once so we can see quick results. The problem with that approach is that it rarely works long term. We may see immediate results, but they are usually short-lived. Changing one area at a time does take patience, but this approach has been shown to produce more lasting results.

Each session is broken down into small segments containing practical strategies to help HEED work successfully. In addition to the main information in each session, HEED provides the following features throughout the book.

• Nutrition Notes: sections for you to write down information.
• Weighty Matters: sidebars that present topics related to weight management.
• Portion Distortion: practical tips to ensure you're using proper portion sizes.
• Science Updates: presents the latest research on the "diet and disease connection, healthy eating behavior change strategies, and food science advancements."
• Up Close and Personal: stories about others like yourself who are working on healthy eating skills.
• Did You Know?: information about myth busters, fun facts, new items available in stores, and other food trivia.

Some of the session titles include: healthy shopping strategies, recruiting support, tackling triggers, balancing calories with physical activity, and dietary supplements and fad diets. The appendix section includes a convenient assessment log so participants can track their progress in one place. There is also a Daily Food Log, a section with tips for achieving HEED goals, and a HEED Goals Assessment form.

The research that HEED is based on revealed the best success was obtained with groups that met weekly to review and discuss the program materials. The control group only received the materials at the beginning and were then on their own. A third group, the "correspondent group" received the book and materials, and could also access a web site for chat sessions, to post questions, and have access to healthy recipes. The results showed some improvement in the correspondent group over the control group, although not as much as the group that met weekly.

These results led to the development of the HEED Online course with interactive learning activities and games written by registered dietitians. Each week a virtual guide explains concepts and activities and provides feedback on your progress. Virtual participants, who have similar eating habits concerns as yourself, take the course with you and provide suggestions for making it work better for you. Although this method may not inspire as much success as weekly meeting sessions, it is better than just reading the book and attempting to make changes on your own.

Overall, the HEED program contains valuable information on improving your eating pattern and also proven methods that help participants make those changes. The information may not be new to some, but it is presented in a way that encourages change. I have found that most of us know many of the changes we should make to eat in a healthier manner. Usually the problem is in actually making permanent changes. The HEED program looks like it would be a very effective method for changing the way you eat because it encourages small, customized changes. The online course appears to be helpful in improving participant's continued motivation. I plan on working through the online program soon (starting after the New Year, of course), so I’ll provide a more experienced assessment and update later.