258 EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS IN REVIEW

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ucation resource for high school stu­dents. The written material would need to be creative, colorful and informative without being, well .. . BORING. Can this be done?

Yes it can, and it has! ALIVE is the perfect solution to the dilemma of teach­ing applied nutrition and fitness skills to perhaps the most difficult of audiences­adolescents . Funded by the New York Department of Health and produced by Cornell University's Division of Nutri­tional Sciences, ALIVE's magazine for­mat will be particularly effective at reach­ing its target audience. Each topic is covered briefly yet accurately, without losing the reader's interest. Creativity is apparent is every facet of the magazine's production, especially in the use of col­orful illustrations, cartoons and photo­graphs.

The pages are packed with usable in­formation on subjects as diverse as sports nutrition and teenage parenthood. Al­cohol use, body image, obesity and fast food are discussed in a very direct style with no implied judgement.

Among the strengths of this publica­tion is the manner in which the reader is subtly encouraged to examine his/her feelings regarding a situation and to de­velop hislher own solutions to the prob­lem raised. The use of an advice column, games, a question-and-answer section entitled "Ask the Problem Panel," and interviews with young people will help teens personalize the information on nu­trition and fitness . Using the third person allows the writer to present specific be­havioral and cognitive strategies to deal with problems without having to resort to "teaching" them. The magazine also uses humor effectively to provide a coun­terpoint when dealing with the more se­rious issues covered in the magazine.

I highly recommend this publication for use with the most challenging and rewarding of age groups . .. teenagers . Alive! is designed to be used with other components of Nutrition for Life, grades 9--12 (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY). The total teaching program includes three programs: "A Smart Start," "Fit Is It,"

and "Now You're Cooking"-to be dis­tributed to high school teachers in New York State. Information about Nutrition for Life is available from local Cornell Cooperative Extension offices.

Linda R. Heller, M.S., RD., Moor­head State University Health Center, Moorhead, MN 56560.

PROFESSIONALS Food Safety Notebook, Langseth, ed., 1990. From Lyda Associates, Inc., P.O. Box 700, Pallisades, NY 10964, newslet­ter, monthly, $45.00/yr.

The sixteen pages of the premier edi­tion of this newsletter are well-packed with scientific information regarding var­ious topics in food safety. Food scientists, toxicologists, and food safety experts may find this newsletter a good technical re­source. It includes abstracts and brief re­views of articles addressing a wide range of food safety subjects, and provides list­ings of resources and recent review ar­ticles. Examples of the subjects covered in one issue include: bovine somatotro­pin; aflatoxins; BHA and BHT consump­tion; food-borne illnessnes such as hep­atitis A, listeria monocytogenes, and salmonella enteritidis; pesticides; and the results of the Food Marketing Institute's 1990 "Trends" consumer survey. A reg­ular column, "Federal Regulatory Up­date, " provides a comprehensive, histor­ical perspective of labeling regulations.

The style of the newsletter is highly technical in nature. The format of the newsletter might be improved through the increased use of white space, graph­ics, and more obvious delineation of the different columns or features, which were sometimes difficult to distinguish from one another. The target audience for this publication appears to be food scientists and food safety experts, rather than nu­trition educators. However, nutritionists or educators in search of more detailed information on food safety issues may also find it a beneficial publication.

Caroline Roberts, M .P.H., R.D., Nu­trition Education Specialist ,' 4360 Winding Woods Wy, Fair Oaks, CA 95268.

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PROFESSIONAL Prevention in Childhood and Youth of Adult Cardiovascular Disease, Report of the WHO Expert Committee, 1990. From WHO Publications Center, 49 Sheridan Ave ., Albany, NY 12210, re­port, softcover, $12.00. ISBN 92-4-120792-2.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), in­cluding atherosclerosis, congenital and rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopa­thies and pulmonary heart disease, are a major cause of adult deaths and disability in industrialized countries and are be­coming increasingly so in developing countries. Reduction in the incidence of these CVD conditions is of upmost im­portance in improving the health of in­dividuals on a world-wide basis. The pri­mary intent of the World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee in presenting this report is to address the problem and reduce the incidence of CVD on an international level by focusing on strategies for prevention in childhood and youth.

Each specific CVD condition is sci­entifically discussed and presented in a readable manner, concerning its inci­dence, the nature of the problem, and the potential for prevention beginning in early childhood. Preventive measures are based on evidence that the major risk factors that occur in adulthood (hyper­tension, elevated serum cholesterol lev­els, obesity) are most often determined by patterns of behavior (inactivity, over­consumption of high caloric and fat foods, smoking, methods of handling stress) es­tablished during the developing years. The report emphasizes that preventive strategies should be implemented in all countries and should focus on the de­veloping child.

A helpful guide for planning public health promotion programs is included in a separate strategy section. The role that schools can play in CVD prevention . is included here. This section is well doc­umented and contains practical sugges­tions for implementation in a variety of educational settings. In addition, infor­mation and evaluation of several inter­national health promotion projects is pro­vided. A final section ofthis WHO expert report contains useful recommendations for action and research on each specific CVD condition.

This technical, but readable report is ideal for public health officials and re­searchers from various academic back­grounds (e.g. , nursing, nutrition, psy­chology, social work), as well as educators (especially those involved in health ed­ucation for youth). It is essential reading material for any public health/public pol­icy makers planning to implement a pre­ventive public health program aimed at reducing the risk factors associated with CVD.

Mary Anne Drake, PhD., RD. , As­sociate Professor Home Economics , Central Missouri State University, Grinstead 231A, Warrensburg, MO 64093.