From Koch, a Child’s Tale of Health and Self-Acceptance

As mayor, Edward I. Koch would often deflect insults by insisting that he was not, among other things, a “wacko,” a “dope” or a “punching bag.” But he now admits that the taunt that stung most was inflicted well before he acquired a politician’s thick skin.

As a child, he hated being called “fatso.” Worse, still, it was true.

“When I look back, it’s no joke,” Mr. Koch recalled the other day. “I think, ‘How did I get through that?’ It was tougher than settling a contract with the unions. And who knows what effect it has on your persona? It made me want to strive to be better than the other kids were. The other part of it was the tears. It makes your life miserable.”

Now, Mr. Koch and his sister, Pat Koch Thaler, have written a cautionary children’s book, “Eddie Shapes Up,” a more or less autobiographical account of a youngster who faces down dietary demons and body-image problems to emerge healthy and self-accepting.

“I wanted to write this book with my sister — also a chubby child — to help children understand the importance of a healthy diet and exercise throughout their lives,” said Mr. Koch, who at 86 still recalls the childhood sting of visits to the husky department at Barneys. “What I hope they walk away with is that it’s possible to avoid being the subject of derision or being an outcast simply by leading a healthy life with a healthy diet.

“It will cause you enormous pain if you let yourself get obese,” added Mr. Koch, whose childhood photos show him as a bit stocky, if not flat-out fat by today’s standards. “You’re not going to worry about it when you’re young, but if it continues, it can shorten your life. You want to have a family, you don’t want to leave them prematurely, and while it’s very unfair, many people in deciding who they’re going to hire will make a decision which includes weight.”

Mr. Koch learned that lesson firsthand. In 1977, David Garth refused to sign up as the media guru for Mr. Koch’s fledgling mayoral campaign until he shed at least 25 pounds from his 6-foot, 1-inch frame. (He dropped from his high, 243, to 210; his low was 165 in the Army.) After that, confronting the government’s own large waste and tightening the municipal belt must have seemed like a cinch.

In an introduction, President Bill Clinton expresses delight that the book — Mr. Koch’s third inspirational volume for children — encourages children “to embrace wellness at an early age.” Mr. Clinton, who has survived two heart operations, writes, “I only wish I had started on this adventure as a young man.”

With colorful drawings by Jonathan Hoefer, “Eddie Shapes Up,” to be published next month by Zagat, tells the story of an overweight young boy who hates recess because he is an easy target in dodge ball, tosses the carrot sticks and apple his mother packed for lunch in favor of a classmate’s potato chips, and declares, “I know I’ll never be thin, so I might as well eat what I like and as much as I like.”

But a friend advises Eddie: “Everybody has a different kind of body. What’s important is being healthy and in good shape.”

Eddie decides to work out in the park with two of his friends, begins to feel better about himself and gets sufficiently fit to sprint fast enough to rescue a baby whose runaway carriage is careering toward a lake (an episode familiar to readers of “Eddie’s Little Sister Makes a Splash,” in which Mr. Koch recalls rescuing his foundering sister from a lake in the Catskills). While he never considers himself skinny, his clothes finally fit and he likes the way he looks.

“Having that body affected me emotionally, socially, and physically,” Mr. Koch wrote — to the point that he was self-conscious about participating in sports (he swam but otherwise was intimidated by his brother’s athletic prowess, as readers of “Eddie: Harold’s Little Brother” well know) and about taking off his shirt or donning a bathing suit.

Now, Mr. Koch says, “I do my best to keep fit, although I still love food and am not overly fond of exercise.”

While Mr. Koch went to the gym regularly as mayor and for 20 years after his defeat in 1989, he no longer does since his recovery from quadruple bypass surgery in 2009, when five weeks in intensive care also cured him of chronic lower back pain that he is loath to reignite. He loves ice cream, but says he has kept his weight below 210.

“Another tip for kids who want to eat between meals,” Mr. Koch added. “I eat sugar snap peas, available at Fairway at about $3.50 a pound, to be kept in the fridge. I also eat a lot more fish than I did and rarely, but occasionally as a treat, have a big rib steak. Everything else in moderation. Finally, I still believe, as I said when I was mayor, that a qualifying Fire Department test for men and women should be, can you carry a 210-pound mayor out of a second-story building?”