Perspectives In Nutrition, 6th ed.

Author: Wardlaw G, Hampl J, DiSilvestro R Category: Diet/Nutrition Audience: Academic Length: 1010 pages Publisher: Workman Publishing Company   Year Published: 2003 List Price: $105.00

AthleteInMe.com^® Rating: Excellent!

Perspectives In Nutrition is now in its 6th edition.  It is an academic textbook.

• Recommended for:  As an academic text, it is probably not a book you would buy for your personal library.  Then, again, this book is so thorough and the page layouts are done so well, that it really could be a useful resource in households where one member had some level of health, nutrition, medical, or scientific knowledge.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Gordon Wardlaw, PhD, RD, LD, is a member of the faculty at Ohio State U., Department of Human Nutrition. Jeffrey Hampl, PhD, RD teaches public health nutrition at Arizona State U., Department of Nutrition. Robert DiSilvestro, PhD (biochemistry) is professor of nutrition at Ohio State U. Dr. DiSilvestro is also a member of the American College of Sports Medicine.

CONTENT

The textbook has so much to offer that it's hard to know where to begin. With 752 pages of content, plus a 203-page Appendix, there is not enough space here to summarize all of the chapter titles. Instead, I'd like to point out some of the superb features of this text:

• Tables: The text is simply loaded with colorful tables of information.

• Color Photos: As with tables, color photos are added liberally, which makes the text visually appealing.

• Glossary and Definitions: Most textbooks include a glossary in the back. But this text also includes key definitions right in the margins of the pages, where appropriate. So, for example, on the page discussing "simple carbohydrates", definitions for "monosaccharide", "fiber", "hexose", and "starch" are provided.

• Chapter Design/Layout: At the beginning of each chapter, objectives are listed, and, at the end, study questions, and even annotated references, something that you rarely see.

• "Expert Opinions": Periodically within the text, readers will come to "Expert Opinion", a 2-page spread that relates theory to the real world. This approach helps illustrate why a concept is valid.

SUMMARY

Generally, AthleteInMe.com® does not review academic textbooks. However, this text contains so much useful information, and is written and designed so well, it is conceivable that this book could be used outside of a classroom setting. Since proper nutrition is (should be!) important to everyone, one could argue that the average household should have a book like this. Certainly, consumers readily buy diet and nutrition books that don't come close to offering what Perspectives In Nutrition offers. Even though I realize only the hard-core might buy a book like this for use in the home, if you're going to buy one nutrition book, then this is the one to get.

In my opinion, there is no better nutrition textbook than Perspectives In Nutrition.

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