Lifestyle Nutrition, edited by JT Dwyer and JM Rippe

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Lifestyle Nutrition, edited by JT Dwyer and JM Rippe, 2001, 232 pages, softcover, $29.95. Blackwell Science, Malden, MA.

Lifestyle Nutrition was originally published as a section in the larger textbook Lifestyle Medicine. The editor of the section, Johanna Dwyer, and the editor of the larger textbook, James Rippe, determined, and I agree, that the nutrition section deserved to be available as a separate monograph. Lifestyle Nutrition is a concise review of public health nutrition topics in the current policy arenas of public health funding, medical care, and health care delivery.

Eight chapters, each contributed by noted experts in their respective fields, cover the major issues of each topic. Included are discussions of Healthy People 2010: Nutrition Objectives for the Nation, nutritional status, nutrition for adolescents and mature adults, cardiovascular disease risk, management of obesity, behavioral approaches to changing behavior, and communicating nutrition messages. Each chapter is well referenced and includes useful tables and charts. Major topics are introduced throughout the monograph. For example, strategies for behavior change are thoroughly described. Detailed tables describe the physiologic changes that occur with aging and that affect the nutritional status of apparently healthy elders. In the chapter on communicating nutrition messages, the Prochaska model for understanding behavior change is reviewed.

The book is not complete by itself but offers sufficient information on the topics covered to be considered an excellent, positive, enticing overview of this vast and complicated field of nutrition. Lifestyle Nutrition would be useful as a reference for public health nutrition students during their early courses. In the study of other disciplines, such as medicine, human biology, dietetics, and community nutrition, this monograph presents a useful overview that entices the reader to "drill down" in his or her areas of greater interest. I highly recommend the book for use by professionals who want a quick overview of these topics on their shelf, by educators who want to introduce nutrition in an exciting format before more in-depth study, and by related health professionals as a first line of information.