Books of interest to nutrition profession­als and those books intended for high school or college classroom use are listed as "references and textbooks. " Books speci-fied by authors as being written for general audiences are listed as "popular. "

Inclusion of any book in this section does not imply endorsement by the Society for Nutrition Education. Book reviews are the opinion of the reviewer when signed. Un­signed summary statements are provided by the editorial staffin some cases where books are not reviewed.

[REFERENCES ] L------------TEXTBOOKS

Childhood Obesity, 2d ed., Collipp, P., ed., 1980. From PSG Publishing Co., Lit­tleton, MA 01460, 429 pp., $25.

Only a few chapters in this book on childhood obesity will be useful to the pe­diatricians at whom the book is directed. These include the role of the nutritionist, the early identification and treatment of obesity, appetite control, and a review of studies of behavioral therapy for children (Previously published elsewhere) . The book considers adipose tissue metabolism in detail, but the relevance to obesity of the chapters on triglyceride storage disease and dietary treatment of atherosclerosis is not specified.

The, weakest areas in this book are those of greatest importance to the practicing pediatrician, namely, epidemiology, clinical presentation, and therapy. Though there is frequent mention of prevalence and persistence, there is no discussion of incidence and remission rates . The text gives no supportive data for the varieties of obesity, such as the controversial asser­tion that one-third of obesity is associated with increased adrenal androgen secre­tion. The book does not even mention the complication of slipped capital femoral epiphysis, lists Blount's disease as a type of obesity despite its frequent occurrence in the nonobese, and does not consider thermogenesis. None ofthe several discus­sions of restrictive dietary therapy empha­sizes the caution with which it must be used or the appropriate studies for monitoring side effects. Despite a thorough discussion of the hazards of drug therapy, elsewhere in the book the reader finds recommenda­tions for its use. Adequate information on

122 JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCATION

drop-out rates or expected response to therapy is not given. The inclusion of car­toons does not compensate for the general lack of data.

This book will be of limited value to pe­diatricians already frustrated by their inef­fectiveness in treating childhood obesity, but at least some of the information on school intervention may be of assistance to other health professionals.

William H. Dietz, Jr., M.D., Assistant Director, Clinical Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 40 Ames St., Cambridge, MA 02142.

Exercise Physiology: Energy, nutrition, and human performance, McArdle, W. D., F. I. Katch, and V. L. Katch, 1981. From Lea & Febiger, 600 Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA 19106, 408 pp., $17.50.

Comprehensive and well-written best describe this excellent book on exercise physiology. The authors first deal with basic nutrition as it relates to human perfor­mance, then review energy for physical ac­tivity and focus on energy value of food, energy transfer, and energy expenditure during exercise. They next discuss systems of energy delivery and utilization, with an emphasis on the pulmonary, cardiovascu­lar, and neuromuscular systems. The final 4 sections cover general concepts in training; environmental factors influencing perfor­mance; body composition, energy balance, and weight control; and finally, aging and the health-related aspects of exercise.

This book is very up-to-date, with most of the recent scientific literature relevant to anyone topic covered in detail. The illustra­tions are excellent and add a great deal to the overall quality. It may be too advanced for the typical undergraduate student in ex­ercise physiology but would make an excel­lent graduate text. It would also be a most

valuable addition to the library of nutrition­ists, physicians, and other educators and re­searchers interested in exercise physiology.

Jack H. Wilmore, Ph.D., Professor of Physical Education, University of Arizo­na, Tucson, AZ 85721.

Controversies in Clinical Nutrition, Cun­ningham, J . J., ed., 1980. From George F. Stickley Co., 2lO W. Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA 19lO6, 227 pp., softcov­er, $15.95.

This collection of 18 reprints from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition considers nutrition controversies related to diet composition, heart disease, fiber, obesity, and cancer.

Discovering Nutrition, Kowtaluk, H., 1980. From Charles A. Bennett Co., 809 W. Detweiller Dr., Peoria, IL 61615, 224 pp., $9.28; student guide, 110 pp., $2.64; school prices available.

In this nutrition text for high school stu­dents, the author carefully considers both content and presentation through logical organization and simple, straightforward language. She presents the complexities of the science of nutrition. The basic nutrition information is accurate and unbiased, and the book also includes sections on practical applications of these facts.

The combination of photographs and graphics liberally used throughout the book are as important in delivering the message as the words themselves. The pictures, graphics, design, and layout work together to hold the interest of the reader as well as to provide information.

Through the use of this book, the student should be able to be more discerning about food selection, whether the choice is made at the grocery store, school cafeteria, or res­taurant. Nutritionists teaching in secondary and adult programs will find this book an important addition to their libraries.

Loretta Juhas, R.D., Supervisor, Nutri­tion Education, San Francisco Unified School District, Children's Centers Divi­sion, San Francisco, CA 94102.

Food and the Consumer, Kramer, A., 1980. From Avi Publishing Co., 250 Post Rd. East, Westport, CT 06881, 221 pp., soft­cover, $10.

This book, intended as a text for a non­majors course, focuses on what the authors

VOLUME 13 NUMBER 3 1981

believe consumers need to know about food. The new edition of this book, first published in 1973, is quite readable and somewhat successful but is not without pro­blems, possibly because the authors tried to accomplish too much.

The best chapters are those on food pres­ervation, packaging and marketing, waste disposal and utilization, and food of the fu­ture. Other chapters address nutrition, food codes, food habits, consumer protection, convenience foods, and current worldwide problems related to food. The nutrition chapter refers to outdated information when appraising the quality of the Ameri­can diet and makes no mention of the new Dietary Guidelines. The text contains some rather dogmatic statements that may be misleading, especially about consumers' at­titudes and behavior.

The book could serve as a text for non­science majors because in the classroom, students could challenge ideas and could undertake further reading. The "general consumer" to whom the author refers would not have the same opportunity.

Harriet Wright, R.D., M.S., M.P.H., Professor, Extension, Nutrition and Food, University of Massachusetts, Am­herst, MA 01003.

Food, Ecology and Culture: Readings in the anthropology of dietary practices, Robson, J. K. R., ed., 1980. From Gor­don and Breach, 1 Park Ave., New York, NY 10016, 143 pp., $27.50.

This edited volume brings together 14 papers previously published in Ecology of Food and Nutrition. The editor intends the collection to illustrate how individuals and groups adapt to their food supply, particularly during times of cultural change. The diet of the Tasaday of the Philippines, the New Guinea sago gather­ers, and the Alaskan Eskimos illustrate the adaption of groups largely isolated from Western influence. The remaining papers illustrate both adequate and inadequate diets of subsistence farmers from the Phil­ippines, Tanzania, New Zealand, Malay­sia, and South India.

Two themes emerge from the collection: dietary acculturation and food avoid­ances. In 2 cases, dietary change was not beneficial. Ethnohistorical records show that the Maori diet before extensive Euro­pean contact was healthier; and tales by Alaskan Eskimo girls illustrate that changes in the food quest pattern pro­duced less nutritious diets. But shifts from

VOLUME 13 NUMBER 3 1981

BOOKS

swidden to plow farming in the Philip­pines do not bring dietary deficiencies.

Food avoidances in Malaysia and Tam­ilnad are based on belief systems which re­strict food intake among certain groups, particularly women in childbirth. Two papers examine the use and non-use of dairying in the Old W orId, particularly in India.

The individual papers are impressive, but the book lacks any organization and direction and relies instead on an implicit model of evolutionary development. Readers are left to infer why they should examine these dietary patterns and exactly what insights the patterns provide for the development of human foodways. Consid­ering the cost and print quality of this volume, those interested in nutritional anthropology may wish to refer to the original literature for access to these inter­esting papers.

Penny Van Esterik, Ph.D., Research Associate, DiviSion of Nutritional Sci­ences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.

Food, Energy and Society, Pimentel, D., andM. Pimentel, 1979. From John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, NY 10016, 165 pp., $12.95.

This book is an encyclopedic, repetitive assessment of the interrelationships of food, energy, and society; it concludes that the answer to the food-energy crisis is for people to control birth rates. Some of the progression of energy-related topics about food production and consumption is thought-provoking, but most of the text is simply an accounting of energy output to input (efficiency) ratios based on the au­thors' assumed matrix of kilocalories.

This system converts metals, liquid and fossil fuels, human and animal labor , trees, electricity, and food to a single energy equivalent. The negative efficiencies dis­covered could well be a result of comparing incomparable items (bullocks eat grass and get energy-why can't people?); it also could be the result of taking micro-data and applying them to macrosituations without suitable modification. A positive note is that the book makes the reader aware of possible trade-offs in the use and develop­ment of energy. However, this awareness is not followed by a framework which might help in analyzing alternatives for truly effec­tive food and fiber policies.

The authors scarcely mention the glues of culture, such as law, religion, politics, and

economics. How and why civilizations ad­vance and decline seem predestined by an energy .calculation or possibly by the com­pletely antiquated notion of a human to land ratio. The authors do not discuss that crop yields are a function of weather, climate, topography, pest control, research, education, capital, and management as well as human, mechanical, and solar energy.

The book attempts too much. The com­plicated agricultural systems of today hard­ly can be reduced to the simple sums the au­thors offer.

L. Tim Wallace, Economist, Coopera­tive Extension, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.

Handbook of Normal and Therapeutic Nu­trition, Eagles, J. A., and M. N. Randall, 1980. From Raven Press, 1140 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, 323 pp., $25.

The first section of this book discusses briefly the factors that affect what one eats and then highlights nutritional assessment. The next section presents normal and thera­peutic aspects of energy and the 6 major nu­trients. The text concludes with chapters on food patterns for health, diet in conjunc­tion with several health problems, and nu­trition education. The book contains con­cise tables and charts which would be helpful to someone knowledgeable in nutri­tion.

The approach of this book would lead the beginning health professional to think that nutrition is an exact science. However, in my opinion nutritionists and dietitians often must go beyond the nutrition rules presented in this text when considering indi­vidual patient needs. The text might be use­ful to dietetic students as a review before taking the registration exam and to practic­ing nurses as a nutrition reference. Begin­ning students also should have access to a good basic nutrition text and thorough lec­tures to point out that nutrition is not at this time as exact a science as is indicated by this text.

Patricia J. Keyes, Ph.D., R.D., Nutri­tion Education and Training Program Coordinator, Box 771, Jackson, MS 39205.

Handbook of Clinical Nutrition, Weinsier, R. L., and C. E. Butterworth, Jr., 1981. From C. V. Mosby Co., 11830 Westline In­dustrial Dr., St. Louis, MO 63141, 231 pp., softcover, $10.95.

This handbook is a convenient reference with information on hospital malnutrition,

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