Nutrition plays a key role in many areas of public health such as pre-term delivery, cancer, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular and renal diseases. Government nutrition policy, therefore, bears a huge influence on the nation's biggest health concerns. There is a clear need for information on this topic that unarguably holds the key to the primary and secondary prevention of some of the major causes of premature death in the US.

Nutrition in Public Health: Principles, Policies, and Practice provides an overview of the field and focuses on the role of the Federal Government in determining nutrition policy and practice. Beginning with a review of the definition and principles of public health, the book examines trends in the US population and nutritional epidemiology. It considers programs to help reduce disparities in the prevalence of diet-related chronic diseases among various populations, as well as a detailed chapter on obesity with discussions on global impact and cost, pediatric obesity, and the impact of socioeconomic status and ethnicity. Specific information is included on breastfeeding mothers, HIV/AIDS, and prison inmates. The book offers a look at the current nutritional status and guidelines in the US before providing a set of tools for the responsible practice of public health nutrition such as conducting nutrition assessments, designing and carrying out social marketing campaigns, writing grant proposals, and enacting programs to promote food security and ensure food supply and safety.

Focusing on nutrition issues in the urban setting, Nutrition in Public Health: Principles, Policies, and Practice provides an integrated view of nutrition needs and the policies and political mechanisms that affect the delivery of quality food and nutrition services.

The purpose of Spark (Hunter College) in writing this book was to provide public health professionals with an overview of the field of public health nutrition, with a focus on the US government's role in determining nutrition policy and practice. She covers the principles of the field in chapters discussing the population of the United States, nutritional epidemiology, food and nutrition surveys for monitoring public health, programs to reduce disparities in the prevalence of diet-related chronic disease, weight control challenges and solutions, and special populations issues. She then discusses food and nutrition politics, policy, and legislation in the United States and the federal government's food and nutrition guidance systems. Finally, she addresses the practice of public health nutrition in five chapters that present the tools for conducting a food and nutrition assessment of a community, designing and carrying out a social marketing campaign, writing grant proposals, and creating programs to promote food security and ensure the safety of the food supply. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Nutrition plays a key role in many areas of public health, such as pre-term delivery, cancer, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular and renal diseases. This groundbreaking book focuses on nutrition issues in the public setting, taking into account the myriad demographic, social, and cultural issues that influence public policy. It integrates an examination of food and nutrition needs and the policies and political mechanisms that affect the delivery of quality food and nutrition services. It presents opposing views on controversial, cutting-edge issues such as conflicting interests of USDA and DHHS, legislation for functional foods, food labeling and health claim regulations, and school feeding challenges.