A practical guide
Edited by James Rippe and John Foreyt
Published by CRC press (Published Sept 2021)
ISBN 978-0-367-55178-0
Price £42.99
This 230 page paperback, is an excellent review of a hugely important topic that covers many branches of medicine. According to the preface, it was only in 2013 that obesity was recognised as a disease by the American Medical Association. This I found was very surprising but there is plenty more morsels of knowledge within this book to attract a reader. Since obesity affects a large number of medical disciplines, then there is a potentially large audience for this book. Even better, it is not a huge book and so it is not difficult to read in its entirety. In fact, if you want to learn more about this subject then reading then book or most of it, should significantly advance your knowledge about obesity.
The book is well written and easy to understand and logical in its layout and although each chapter can be read, the sensible sequence of topics covered make a good flow. Take for example the excellent Chapter (Chapter 9) on Bariatric Surgery which is a welcome and good general review of an issue that sometimes finds its way through to a GP. This is a great one stop shop for learning about surgical techniques accompanied by helpful figures and really helpful text.
Other key chapter headings include Paediatric Obesity, in chapter 10 with an excellent table (10.1 on page 115) on the aetiology of childhood obesity and the chapter is full of practical and useful advice on managing this difficult issue. I was fascinated to read (Page 119) that a reduction in sleep quantity is a risk factor for childhood obesity. On the same page I was startled to read that 8.5% of 12 to 19 year olds in the United States are classified as “severe obesity” This is of course associated with negative health outcomes and so is a major public health issue.
This leads neatly onto the next chapter which tends to look at long term risks facing adults (Chapter 11) which discusses a term I have not come across before namely “Adiposity based chronic disease” (ABCD). This term is useful way to look at obesity from a clinical and research standpoint. Table 11.2 looks at ABCD related conditions listing obvious ones such as Type 2 diabetes (relative risk 7.7) but less obvious depression (relative risk 2.0). We are reminded on page 13 that “Adipose tissue is one of the largest organs in the body”
The more I read through this book, the more I learnt and solidified, consolidated and expanded previous knowledge as well as gaining new knowledge. We all know that obesity is a large public health problem but this excellent and highly readable book puts it all into perspective. Even better, it is easy to read, relatively short in length (making it easier to read as a whole) but fact packed and very good value for money. Highly recommended.
Dr Harry Brown
January 2022
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