referencebooks

Encyclopedia of Diet Fads

By Marjolijn Bijlefeld and Sharon K. Zoumbaris

Published by Greenwood Press, 2003.

This is a 7" by 10" hardbound book running to 242 pages including seven appendices and an index, plus an introduction. The book is laid out two columns to a page, in larger type.

The introduction says:

This volume introduces a wide variety of weight loss means and methods. Some entries describe a particular diet; some describe a support group or service; and some entries focus on the people who have changed the way Americans eat. It combines advice from nutritionists and physicians, weight loss gurus, and government and private agencies whose role it is to oversee the weight loss industry.

No doubt, there will be disagreements about the effectiveness of a certain diet plan. One person may swear by the high-protein diet while another may swear by a plan that restricts or permits only certain foods. Entries may contain a description of the diet plan and arguments from those who say it is unsafe.

The introduction goes on to discuss the history of our culture's obsession with thinness in a critical way, which is oddly in contrast with the body of the work itself.

Here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the book:

• aerobic activity
  
• amphetamines
  
• anaerobic activity
  
• anemia
  
• antioxidants
  
• anorexia nervosa
  
• appetite suppressants by prescription
  
• artificial sweetners
  
• Atkins Nutritional Approach
  
• Atkins, Robert C.
  
• Barnard, Neal
  
• Beverly Hills Diet
  
• Body for Life
  
• body mass index
  
• bulimia nervosa
  

A typical entry for a diet plan is a few pages long, summarizes it, talks about its origin and the theory behind it, talks about the person behind it and his or her background and qualifications (usually providing a black and white photograph as well), and gives some citations for further reading. In the entries for diet plans and people, there is very little in the way of critical viewpoints; those are reserved for chemicals and practices about which there is a scientific consensus as to their danger.

This is a fairly interesting book but not as scholarly as it might be. It seems most useful to people wanting to decide on a diet program. It could also be used by people researching the whole weight-loss industry and culture. For both potential types of uses it is somewhat lacking in critical information.

1001 Health-Care Questions Women Ask, Third Edition

By Joe S. McIlhaney Jr., M.D., Obstetrician-Gynecologist, with Susan Nethery.

Published by Baker Books, 1998.

This is a 7" by 9" paperback book running to 575 pages including a lengthy glossary and a brief index.

The intent of this book appears at first glance simply to be to provide solid, practical information on women's health to a popular audience. It is organized into three main parts, each with chapters (totaling 14), more specific topics under each chapter, and specific questions under each topic. The main parts are "The Female Body in Change," "Bearing a Child," and "Special Concerns." The fourteen chapters, with a sample topic and a question under that topic in parentheses for each, in these sections are:

1. Basic Anatomical Facts (How Female Organs Develop and Change - "How do the fallopian tubes develop from birth through menopause?")
   
2. Infant and Early Childhood Years (The "Facts of Life" - "What guidelines do you suggest for the sexual and moral development of my daughter?")
   
3. The Adolescent Years (Bulimia and Anorexia - "My daughter seems to be overly concerned about her weight. She is very thin and yet constantly talks about how fat she is. Her eating habits are strange. Could she be developing an eating disorder?")
   
4. The Reproductive Years (Endometriosis - "If I have endometriosis and want to have more children, what should be done?")
   
5. Middle Age, Menopause, and Maturity (General Health Care in Midlife - "What major health hazard should be avoided by women seeking optimum health in later years?")
   
6. Conception (XX and XY Chromosomes - "What techniques might I try so that I can increase my chances of choosing my child's gender?")
   
7. Pregnancy (Diabetes and Pregnancy - "Should I be tested for diabetes as a routine procedure if I am pregnant?")
   
8. Preparation for Childbirth (Home Births - "Is a delivery outside a hospital a good alternative to a hospital delivery?")
   
9. Labor and Delivery (Postdelivery Details in the Hospital - "Is 'rooming in' a good idea?")
   
10. Disorders of Sexual and Reproductive Organs (Problems of the Cervix - "What is leukoplakia of the cervix?")
    
11. Infertility (Emotional Support for the Infertile Couple - "Why are my husband's and my own emotions running so out of hand as we consider and work on our infertility?")
    
12. Birth Control--Temporary and Permanent (The Intrauterine Contraceptive Device - "How does an IUD affect fertility?")
    
13. Sexually Transmitted Disease (HPV--Genital Warts--Condyloma Acuminata - "How are abnormal Pap smears associated with sexually transmitted disease?")
    
14. Marial and Sexual Relationships (Some Basic Marital Principles - "When you say, 'Realize the importance of sex, does that mean you believe that a couple's sexual relationship is a primary factor in marriage?")
    

At first glance a book on women's health might seem automatically feminist, but I do find it odd how much of the book is concerned with women's roles as mother and wife. I don't think we have many resources on men's health, but I have seen Men's Health magazine, and it is not nearly so much about reproduction, fatherhood and marriage. Aren't there women's health concerns that relate specifically to work, to play and exercise, to other activities that women do?

That may not seem like a big problem to some, but looking further into the book reveals a related surprise not advertised on the front cover: this is a biblically-based book that makes frequent reference to scripture throughout, and states quite blankly that life begins at fertilization. Given that, I am surprised to find this book in our library's reference collection and I wonder if it's a case where we bought it in ignorance of its religious ideology. Now it might be said that a library collection should represent all points of view. I am not sure this is meant to apply to a reference collection, where the attempt is to provide facts, and I'm not sure that religion is appropriate in a medical text.

This book might be good for conservative Christians; others should watch out.