Fats, Sugars, and empty Calories: the Fast Food Habit

Bibliographic information: 

Libal, Autumn.  Fats, Sugars, and empty Calories: the Fast Food Habit.  Philadelphia : Mason Crest Publishers, 2006.

Brief plot description:

This non-fiction book is part of a series written for adolescents called Obesity : Modern-Day Epidemic.  The books in the series are presented with colorful illustrations, lots of informational insets in colored boxes and current information about obesity.  In this book, Fast Food Habit the author discusses fast food from its beginnings in history to the present day.  She talks about the growth of McDonald’s and the food that they serve.  One chapter is devoted to the caloric count of fast foods.  Another chapter talks about how to get variety in your diet and the foods that the body needs.  Supersizing and food portions are the topic of one chapter.  Advertising and profit of fast food companies is discussed in another chapter. 

Brief review:

I would use this for fifth through eighth grade and even high school students.  The book does a good job of presenting factual information in an appealing and well-organized layout.  The book is well organized with a table of contents, glossary, further reading, for more information, index and biographies.  The writing style is direct but not preachy.  I would use this book when students are writing reports on the topics.  Other topics in the series include exercise, diets, social discrimination, emotions and body image.  This is current information about a topic that has been in the news and is written in a manner that students can understand.     

Genre label:

Informational

Reading level/interest level:

5^th-8^th grade, high school also

Similar materials in style content, theme or characters:

Want Fries with That?:  Obesity and the Supersizing of America by Scott Ingram

Eating the Plates: A Pilgrim Book of Food and Manners by Lucille Recht Penner