Nutrition and Fitness Manual: A Summary of Research and Resources

Betsy MacKenzie was a graduate student in community health at the University of Toronto.

This manual can be obtained separately or as part of a larger resource kit. Two authors are students at Toronto’s Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and the third is Coordinator of the Nutrition Information Service at Ryerson. Intended for nutritionists and fitness instructors, the book covers topics like general nutrition, energy balance, and athletic performance. The text in each section is followed by a large list of suggested resources, all of which are recommended by the Nutrition Information Service but appear without annotations. The last chapter consists of well-researched, annotated references for curriculum guides, periodicals, and organizations.

It is obvious that this book is the product of an enormous amount of work. The text is accurate and concise, but it is not comprehensive enough to stand alone as a resource. The references are quite extensive but, without annotations, are difficult to wade through selectively. The manual is likely to frustrate the reader who is not trained or is not already widely read in nutrition. To those who are, it could be a useful tool when preparing a new project or course in diet, lifestyle, and fitness.