Infant Nutrition.

Infant Nutrition

Lucas A, Zlotkin S. Health Press Limited, Oxford, 2003, 108 pages, [pounds sterling]15.00, ISBN 1-899541-93-4

Optimal nutrition during the early life of infants is essential for growth and development throughout life. Nutritional management of hospitalised infants and children, or training of health professionals is often limited. This book aims to fulfil that need by offering comprehensive coverage with guides to clinical practice on paediatric nutrition propensity for disease and the proper nutrition management for infants.

Topics of the book include physiology, nutritional requirements, growth, breastfeeding, infant formulas and other milks, other fluids in infant feeding, transition to solid foods, food safety and general health issues, a practical approach to feeding problems and future trends. The end of the book also provides useful addresses of nutrition organisations and nutrition foundations. Every chapter is of excellent scientific quality. Each chapter clearly and briefly provides the key issues of nutritional problems, requirements, management and recommendations. The table and figures highlighted in soft colours throughout the book allow navigation to key points quickly and easily. The use of colours from the start of the cover is an attractive way to present information. This book not only addresses current issues in infant nutrition, but also addresses food safety and future directions. The future trends provide a clear message that nutritional programming and the biological effects of nutrition on short- and long-term health are one of science's most challenging frontiers. Overall, this book systematically sets out a practical approach for the management of problems with feeding, infant nutritional requirements, food safety and general health issues.

The book provides excellent updated knowledge on long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly arachidonic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in human milk, which are essential components of the brain and retina, and are important for normal neurological function. Learning behaviour is listed as an important clinical and research discipline. However, as human milk is key to early mental development, then there are many micronutrients in human milk that may contribute to brain growth. These include iron, vitamins, some enzyme hormones, and particularly sialic acid, which are found as one of nature's richest sources in human milk oligosaccharides and across central nervous system structures.

My only real criticism of the book is that in chapter 2, Nutritional requirements, there should be more information on the oligosaccharides in human milk. Oligosaccharides represent over 12 g/L of mature milk and approximately 22 g/L of colostrum. These fractions are of widely recognised importance for biological functions in infant nutrition.

The authors of this book are well-recognised leaders in the fields of infant nutrition. The book is clearly targeted at presenting a scientific basis, grabbed my attention, and held it. In my opinion, this book is perhaps the best source of practical guidance on infant nutrition for all health care staff working with infants and their parents.

Bing Wang

NHMRC Research Fellow

Human Nutrition Unit

School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences

University of Sydney