Now, more than ever, American dads are poised to take a proactive approach to health and fitness for themselves and their children. In Dads, Kids, and Fitness: A Father’s Guide to Family Health, I highlight the value of treating dads as central players in what I call the social health matrix—the myriad conditions, relationships, and choices that define matters of health, fitness, and well-being for fathers and children’s intersecting lives.
Drawing on revealing interviews with a diverse sample of dads and pediatric health care professionals, as well as my unique personal experiences—initially as a teenage father, and then as a later-life dad to a second son born thirty-one years later—I challenge dads to become more health-conscious in how they live and raise their children.
I artfully explore how fathers approach their own health while revealing how fathers’ life-long experiences of taking care of or abusing their own bodies and minds affect the way they respond to their children’s health-related needs. I also outline how schools, religious organizations, the business community, medical facilities, and other organizations can help dads with either healthy children or those with special needs make a positive imprint on their health, fitness, and well-being.
Anchored in compelling stories of joy, tragedy, and resilience, Dads, Kids and Fitness extends and deepens the public’s conversation about health at a propitious moment in our nation’s history when debates about healthcare have never been more passionate and pervasive. Its progressive message breathes new life into discussions about fathering, manhood, and health.