Drawing on her landmark study, project EAT (Eating Among Teenagers), Dr. Neumark-Sztainer offers a wealth of science-based, practical ideas for instilling healthy eating and exercise habits, educating teens about nutrition and portion size, and talking about body image.

It's hard to decide which is more frightening--the "food" teenagers enjoy, or the things they say about their bodies. Whether it's your son's passion for chips and soda or your daughter's announcement that she "feels fat," kids' attitude about how they look and what they should eat often seem devoid of common sense. In a world where television and school cafeterias push super-sized sandwiches while magazines feature pencil-thin models, many teens feel pressured to starve themselves and others eat way too much. Blending her experience as the mother of four with results from a survey of nearly...