ISBN 0-8493-8736-1) 422 pages, hardcover. US$69.95/£46.99.Childhood obesity is increasing rapidly, not only in industrialized but also in developing countries in transition. It is cause for alarm that it commonly leads to adult obesity. Adult obesity is already endemic in most industrialized countries and is rapidly increasing in the more advanced developing countries as well. The result is an increase in morbidity and mortality from diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and other chronic diseases. The implications for developing countries are more serious because of evidence that fetal and infant malnutrition increases susceptibility to these chronic diseases in adults. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive compilation of available information as a basis for combating the epidemic of adult obesity.Both authors are world authorities on exercise physiology and have applied their expertise to such a treatise. The first 11 chapters review in detail the main characteristics of childhood obesity, including epidemiology, stages of development, physical characteristics, energy expenditure and activity, evaluation of functional status, food intake, biochemical and hormonal characteristics, psychological aspects, and health problems.The second section on treatment and management principles begins with a valuable 55-page chapter on the effects of various reduction therapies, followed by 35 pages on practical measures for weight management during the growing years. This book provides a wealth of well-presented and valuable information for all who are interested in this increasingly important subject.Proteins of iron metabolism. Ugo Testa. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., USA, 2002 (ISBN 0-8493-8676-4) 559 pages, hardcover, US$199.95/£134.00.