Protein Energy Malnutrition B Vishnu Bhat, New Delhi: Peepee; 2008. Pages: 204; Price: Rs 125.00

The book on ‘Protein Energy Malnutrition’ by B Vishnu Bhatt comes at a time when India is battling with a double burden of both undernutrition and overnutrition simultaneously. Enormous information is available in literature on malnutrition and authors have done a good job by summarizing the relevant information in the book form.

The book has 16 chapters. The book is well written, language is easy to understand, and each chapter ends with key messages. The liberal use of headings and subheadings, and presentation of material in the form of tables and diagrams make reading easy and facilitate understanding on the topic. There are chapters on nutritional requirements, growth monitoring, classification, pathogenesis, biochemical and pathological changes in PEM.

Management of PEM is well described in accordance with the current WHO guidelines. The chapters on malnutrition and infection and immunity and malnutrition highlight the interdependence of nutrition and immune system. Inclusion of new WHO growth standard which was published in 2006 is a valuable addition to the book. A chapter on obesity will make reader aware of the emerging problem of overnutrition which is fast turning into an epidemic.

The information provided is up to date and references are well listed. The book is available in handy form, the quality of the paper used is good and there is hardly any printing error. I will strongly recommend this book to postgraduates, practitioners, nutritionists and academicians.