Food and nutrition. Second edition. (Book Reviews).

Wahlqvist ML, (editor), Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2002, 616 pages, $69.95. ISBN 1-86508-692-4

This book continues to serve as an 'authoritative introduction to nutrition and dietetics in the region'. The introductory chapters are particularly interesting as they set the scene for the knowledge base that is to follow, and provide guidance on reference frameworks for critical thinking (Antigone Kouris-Blazis' chapter on evaluating nutrition information is a must for beginner students). Both Mark Wahlqvist and Pat Crotty paint an intriguing picture of nutrition culture, providing an interesting historical perspective and some challenging concepts on human relations respectively. On reviewing the impact of industrial and social change on nutritional status throughout the ages, I note the pattern continues with our current obesity epidemic. The ensuing sections are as everyone would want from a text of this nature: contemporary food use and safety, the biology of food components, lifespan nutrition, and food and disease, all essential components of basic knowledge for new students. The final section on foo d, individuals, environment and policy ties up a lot of public health nutrition areas and finishes with a nutrition policy section which takes us around the Asia Pacific region. In this sense, the book is nicely 'topped and tailed', setting Australian nutrition in its regional context and looking to the future.

Structurally, the book will be useful to students. It is well set out, each chapter starting with learning goals, finishing with a dot point summary and containing clear and useful headings, diagrams and tables in between. The references at the end have useful websites, but the journal citations are fairly minimal. As an introductory text, this possibly reflects the emphasis on basic concepts, and this is very apparent in the food-disease section. Students moving onto clinical dietetics would need to build up from here. Exposing my own biases now, it was disappointing not to see any reference to the concept of metabolic syndrome or at least the thinking which now links obesity with type 2 diabetes mellitus and heart disease through pathophysiological mechanisms and epidemiologcal observations. Again, this could be something for the next stage of learning, but even from a food perspective, the unified framework is something new and engaging. In this sense, educators might want to look laterally at other subje cts that inform the area at the same time students are studying basic nutrition. From the book's perspective, the chapters on macronutrients and energy balance are well presented for cross referencing.

As a basic textbook, Food and nutrition remains highly recommended. While it speaks the universal language of nutrition, schools in the region will find local examples and references contained in the text invaluable, and practitioners will find it a very useful reference text for the library.