A book titled ‘Pediatric Nutrition in Health and Disease’ authored by Mrs. Madhu Sharma, Dietician in the Department of Dietetics was released by Prof. BNS Walia, former Director PGI, Chandigarh in the presence of Dr. Y.K. Chawla, Director PGI, Dr. A.K. Gupta, Medical Superintendent, PGI, other faculty members and staff of the Dietetics Department.
Commenting upon the book for which he has also written the foreword, Prof. Walia said that besides the general aspects of nutrition, the therapeutic management of sick children with various diseases has been explicitly dealt with in context to the Indian scenario. Dr. Chawla appreciated the efforts put in by Mrs. Sharma in bringing out this compilation saying that such a book was the need of the hour for all students and health care providers dealing with nutrition. Dr. Meenu Singh, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, explained that the present book was a compilation with update and expansion on the earlier two books authored by Mrs. Madhu Sharma, which dealt with basic and therapeutic Nutrition separately.
Parents constantly seek guidance regarding optimum nutritional requirements for their growing children right from birth through their growing period going on till the adolescent stage. To be able to impart this knowledge and counsel them on such aspects, it is essential that the health care providers like the pediatricians, nutritionists/dieticians ad nurse themselves be well informed regarding the finer details of nutritional management of children. A greater challenge is the management of children in the sick days. Dietary modifications may be required in certain conditions like in the chronic diarrheas, diabetes, obesity etc, which are becoming very common these days.
Most of the books available on these aspects are either based on western standards or these issues may just form a part of a larger chapter in any text book. It is with this goal in mind, that this book was conceptualized. It has been an endeavour of the author to deal with all aspects of nutrition for the child, both in health and disease, especially keeping in mind the Indian scenario. Details of the practical aspect of nutritional management of children in a practical way have been discussed at length.
The earlier part of the book deals with the nutritional management of children in healthy children, their needs and requirements through various phases of their growth, starting from infancy to adolescence. The latest recommendations from ICMR which were updated in 2010, have all been incorporated in this book. To begin with the issues of the child, an important aspect of the fetal life of the infant which completely depends upon its mother during her pregnancy has not been ignored. Optimum nutritional requirements of the pregnant mother and subsequently during her nursing phase have been touched upon at length. There is an increased participation of children in sports and related performances, and for this group the requirements of various macro and micro nutrients are greatly altered. How these can be achieved by dietary modifications has been dealt with explicitly in this book. Other aspects like problems of food allergies, dental health, vegetarianism, malnutrition etc, all have been dealt with in great detail.
The second half of the book deals with the dietary management and modifications from the normal diet. Problems ranging from the gastro intestinal tract to that of the liver, kidney, cardiac, diabetes, obesity cancer, HIV and many more have all been discussed in detail.
The author hopes that this book will serve as a useful guide for all students of nutrition and dietetics, medicine and even nursing colleges. It is recommended as a ‘must have’ for all libraries of Home Science Colleges, medical and nursing colleges besides bookshelves of all practicing dieticians and pediatricians according to Dr. Walia in his foreword of the book.