by Varlotta Gerard P, Cheriyan Thomas, Errico Thomas J
Paradoxically a dual challenge of malnutrition and obesity exists in the Indian children and adolescents despite government programs to control and prevent them. There is an urgent need of educating all those concerned with the care of children, the parents, guardians, health professionals, NGO workers, kindergarten and school teachers, specialists in family medicine, pediatrics, community medicine, nutrition, dietetics, workers in agriculture, food technology, small scale industries, government and policy makers in the basics of nutrition and dietetics, suitable and relevant to children of different age groups, various communities from different regions of India, with varied cultural practices and food habits. These should be based on cheap yet nutritious locally available crops, produce and foods, in simple, practical terms easily followed by this vast clientele. An effort is made to put these thoughts and knowledge from basics to application in this book. Innumerable pictures, illustrations, charts, diagrams, and tables make reading interesting and easy to follow. Experts in their specialties from all over India have shared their knowledge, experience and advice on some aspects of clinical nutrition. Annexure contains growth charts, nutritive value of foodstuffs, conversion tables, medicinal values of spices, adulteration of food, sources of food, food exchanges and alternatives to expensive foods as ready reference. Keeping in mind, India’s multilingual culture, at the end of the book, glossary is given in more than 10 common Indian languages for various articles of food. The highlight of the book is chapter 24 containing more than 300 recipes for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, school children and adolescents vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian to suit their requirements. The purpose of the book will be served if the reader is satisfied feeding the child with the recipes and advice given here, tries out new recipes and improves his/her nutrition.
