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1 Center for Pediatric Nutrition Research, Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Room 2A244, School of Medicine, 50 North Medical Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, E-mail: laurie.moyer-mileur{at}hsc.utah.edu
This book provides a strong foundation for the assessment and interpretation of human growth and development. The book is divided into 5 distinct chapters: 1) "Measurement and Assessment," 2) "Patterns of Change in Size and Body Composition," 3) "Determinants of Growth" (eg, genetic, hormonal, nutritional, etc), 4) "Secular Changes in Growth and Maturity," and 5) "Significance of Human Growth."
The first chapter exposes the reader to several growth charts for healthy populations, including the widely used growth charts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for weight, length and stature, body mass index, and head circumference as well as a sampling of growth charts from the Netherlands, Hungary, and Japan. Examples of the 50th percentile values for total body fat, fat-free mass, and median skinfold-thickness values in childhood; growth charts for infants born at birth weights of < 1000 and < 1500 g; and references for disease-specific growth charts are also provided.
Chapter 2 provides mathematical models for describing stature and body mass index growth patterns during infancy, childhood, and adolescence. The background information and the models provided are essential for longitudinal studies of growth and development. Furthermore, clinicians will benefit from the discussion of growth tracking and the assessment of failure to thrive and catch-up growth.
Of greatest benefit is the compact summary of the various growth determinants in chapter 3. This chapter provides a comprehensive minireview of how each growth determinant interacts with other hormones and growth factors to influence growth and is accompanied by schematic representations of the biologic and hormonal pathways of these determinants.
A thorough review of the numerous studies of secular changes during the past 40 y in the growth and maturation of children in developed countries is provided in chapter 4. This chapter considers the determinants of growth and maturation as well as the possible effects of secular changes on the importance of extended longitudinal growth studies. Chapter 5 summarizes how the significance of human growth is determined from its relation to future body size, proportions, and composition and from the associations of growth measurements with current and future risks of serious chronic disease.
The authors also supply compilations of their data in an easy-to-read tabular format. For example, the book includes tables that summarize deficits in size or body weight at birth that are specific to the maternal use of tobacco, alcohol, or cocaine during pregnancy. In addition, summary data for adjusted differences in growth associated with exclusive breastfeeding compared with those associated with predominant breastfeeding are presented. Other tables include data on growth patterns in children with selected diseases and on the adjusted effects of ethnicity, maternal age, parity, employment, and prepregnancy weight on birth size. These tables and the book as a whole are well referenced.
The use of Human Growth in the title implies that the book covers topics ranging from osseous growth, organ development, and neurologic development to the nutritional implications related to growth. However, Roche and Sun opted to focus on the assessment and interpretation of length, stature, and body weight. This focus, with the inclusion of the most up-to-date research, makes this book an exceptional sounding board for more specific areas of growth research.