Book Review

Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition

N Engl J Med 1999; 340:1771-1772June 3, 1999

Article

Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition
Edited by Michèle J. Sadler, with J.J. Strain and Benjamin Caballero. 1973 pp. in three volumes, illustrated. San Diego, Calif., Academic Press, 1999. $799. ISBN: 0-12-226694-3

The Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition is a superb attempt to incorporate into one three-volume textbook the many elements of the rapidly expanding science of nutrition. The book is timely, given the increased interest in diet and health by the general public worldwide. It is broad based and covers the physiologic aspects of nutrient and energy requirements of different populations; measurements of dietary intake and nutritional status; the nutrient composition of the main food groups; associations between diet, lifestyle, and disease; clinical applications of nutrition to improve health; topical issues relating to the food-processing industry; influences affecting food choice and eating behavior; nutritional guidelines and public health policies in both developed and developing countries; international aspects of food labeling; and a range of other, related topics.

The effects of the globalization of modern life are particularly apparent in the field of nutrition. Food production and the availability of food in individual countries are highly dependent on the world market, and rapid changes in agricultural policies in a few key nations can have a global impact on the prices and availability of food. For these reasons, any encyclopedia of human nutrition must be international in its content. Appropriately, this book has an international editorial board and an international set of authors.

Because the table of contents is arranged alphabetically, many unrelated topics follow one another in the three volumes. I found this approach somewhat confusing. By contrast, the cross referencing in the table of contents is excellent and helps one find a particular subject easily. Each volume ends with a comprehensive set of tables and charts (Appendix II). The index is excellent and user-friendly in terms of helping the reader find tables, discussions of major topics, and cross references. The format of the index should serve as a template for other comprehensive textbooks. However, it seems to me to be a waste of pages to reproduce Appendixes I and II in each volume.

In general, the coverage of most of the topics in nutrition, ranging from molecular biology to agriculture and food science and from social sciences in human behavior to clinical medicine, is excellent. The section on drug–nutrient interactions is extremely useful. However, the discussion of parenteral and enteral nutrition is superficial, and the references are not up to date. The section by Wilmore on long-term nutritional management provides additional information on these subjects. Likewise, the discussion of childhood nutrition is somewhat superficial, although the section on infant nutrition is quite good and comprehensive. Finally, fetal nutrition is a new and emerging subject that is barely mentioned.

The Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition is a superb attempt to produce a comprehensive textbook of human nutrition and should be in the library of every physician and nonphysician interested in the subject.

Arnold G. Coran, M.D.
University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109