New Resources for Nutrition Educators

BOOK

Nutrition for the Older Adult.Bernstein M, Schmidt Luggen A, 2010,Jones and Bartlett Publishers, LLC, 40Tall Pine Drive, Sudbury, MA 01776.Paperback book, 422 pp, $87.95, ISBN:978-0-7637-3624-8.

This book is a clear, comprehensivetext that introduces students to nutritionand health promotion for older adults. Itprovides nutrition fundamentals andclinical relevance, with chapters thatfocus on the specific diseases and disor-ders that affect older persons. Coveringsuch important topics as the physiologi-cal changes of aging, weight and nutri-tion problems in older adults, nutritionassessment and support, diet and culturaldiversity, and exercise prescriptions forolder adults, this text is an essential re-source for students in the fields of nutri-tion, nursing, and gerontology.

With the ever increasing and rap-idly changing population of elderlyAmericans, this book is a timely addi-tion to the literature on older adults be-cause it places a wealth of informationat the reader’s fingertips. The text ad-dresses a cross-section of issues andtrends such as physiological changes,nutrition requirements, chronic dis-eases, weight loss, obesity, physical ac-tivity, nutrition services, healthpromotion, and disease prevention.

Each chapter contains the objec-tives to be achieved by the readerupon completion of the material, pro-vides key terms and concepts, andends with a synopsis of what shouldhave been learned from the chapter.The activities at the end of the chapterallow for further research of the topic.

Inclusion of any material in this section does noNutrition Education. Evaluative comments conauthors. Review abstracts are either prepared byliterature. Prices quoted are those provided bysubmitted. They may not be current when theJ Nutr Educ Behav. 2010;42:213.e3�2010 SOCIETY FOR NUTRITION EDUC

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behav

Additionally, the authors provide stu-dents with opportunities to searchthe Internet, discuss topics, and de-velop their critical-thinking skills.End-of-chapter case studies providethe opportunity for readers to applythe information presented in thetext, solve problems, and make con-nections to real-world situations.

A definite strength of the text is itssuitability for use as a reference toolon the foundations of nutrition withits presentation of sound, up-to-dateinformation on the biological andphysiological aspects of nutrition.Other strengths include the presenta-tion of physiological changes relatedto aging for each system of the body.Various minority groups are depictedand well represented throughout thetext. In addition, the inclusion ofdiet and cultural diversity in olderadults lends itself to the development

t imply endorsement by the Society fortained in the reviews reflect the views of thethe reviewer or extracted from the productthe publishers at the time materials werereview is published.

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of culturally appropriate programsand interventions for the elderly.

There are a few instances in whichthe organization of the chapters couldhave been structured to present relatedtopics next to each other. For example,obesity and planning weight loss inolder adults could have immediatelyfollowed exercise for older adults.So, too, diet and cultural diversity inolder adults could have been pre-sented after the section on nutritionalrequirements. However, educatorsgenerally present topic in a formatthat suits their pedagogical schedule,and as a result, this may not bea problem.

This text is suitable for college stu-dents in upper-level and graduate nu-trition and health courses. It could beused as a supplementary text for stu-dents in medical nutrition therapy,as many chapters focus on the clinicalmanagement of diseases. It will also bea great resource for Journal of NutritionEducation and Behavior readers in nu-trition, dietetics, and other health-related professions.

Ingrid Karen Richards Adams, PhD,University of Kentucky, Nutrition andFood Science, 218 Funkhouser Building,Lexington, KY 40506-0054

doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2010.01.011

Cite this article as Richards AdamsIK. Nutrition for the Older Adult[New Resources for Nutrition Edu-cators]. J Nutr Educ Behav.2010;42:213.e3.

213.e3