An Introduction to Nutrition

Opinión de Sheila Cook, Family and Consumer Sciences Instructor, Pittsburg State University on 1/16/23

Exhaustividad clasificación: 5 ver menos

For the intended audience, the text covers the necessary components of an introductory nutrition course. This text is a contender for an adopted online text for my nutrition and health course. It is easy to read and follow.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 5

The text is accurate concerning the basics of nutritional science and health. The author(s) present accurate relationships between nutrients, eating habits, good living, and overall health spanning the life cycle.

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 4

Content is relatively accurate, but needs updating to stay current with trends, issues, and updated guidelines. The majority of the science content stays basic. Instructors can easily add supplemental materials if needed, especially in the areas of fad diets and trends, and new discoveries pertaining to research.

Claridad clasificación: 5

The text includes appropriate language and terminology necessary for an introductory nutrition and health course. The text contains appropriate content for students who are satisfying general education requirements.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

The text is set up with an appropriate index. Content chapters flow easily from one topic to another, building on previous knowledge, making connects to new content. It would be easy for instructors to "jump around" the index per their liking.

Modularidad clasificación: 5

The text is broken into appropriate sections, allowing for charts, figures, and links for further understanding. I feel there are no disruptions to the reader.

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 5

The topics are organized in a logical and clear manner.

Interfaz clasificación: 2

The text has many significant interface issues. Although images and charts are displayed nicely, there were several navigational problems throughout including several articles and/or videos that have broken links. Overall, the text is visually appealing.

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

I did not observe any spelling or grammatical errors.

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 5

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way and provides diets from various cultures. It could be used by any student.

Opinión de Beverly Moellering, Assistant Professor/Director Coordinate Program in Dietetics, University of Saint Francis on 5/20/22

Exhaustividad clasificación: 5 ver menos

The text covers the appropriate topics for an introduction course in nutrition.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 4

Nutrition is continually advancing. There are some topics that are outdated such as the dietary guidelines and reference to Healthy People 2020 to name a couple.

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 4

The logical nature of each chapter in the book as well as the progression of topics allow students to have a good understanding of nutrition. Updates just need to occur.

Claridad clasificación: 4

The book does a good job of explaining key terms and avoids any extreme terminology. Web links are provided to clarify information, but several of the links do not work.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

Big ideas, key take aways, and discussion starters throughout each chapter are great tools to help students become engaged with the content.

Modularidad clasificación: 4

The text is organized well and flows easily. At the end of each chapter there are end of chapter exercises which allows the reader to go through items to expand comprehension of topics discussed. Links just do not always work.

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 5

It is organized in presenting the key concepts and the six classes of nutrients.

Interfaz clasificación: 3

Links to videos, articles, etc. often did not work.

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

There were no grammar issues with this textbook

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 5

No cultural biases found.

While this text book has a good outline of topics covered and ways to engage the reader, the issues with current updates and accurate web links need to be improved. This would be a good supplement text for a course.

Opinión de Shyanne Sansom, Instructor, Eastern New Mexico University on 1/13/22

Exhaustividad clasificación: 5 ver menos

The textbook covers all the important topics that a human nutrition text should cover.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 4

The book was accurate in 2012, but knowledge of nutrition science changes so quickly that the book is quite outdated in 2022. This was the most challenging aspect of using this for a higher education class. I spent a great deal of time finding accurate, current information for my students.

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 3

This textbook is so old that much of the content is obsolete. This makes using it as the primary source of information for a nutrition course extremely challenging.

Claridad clasificación: 4

The textbook is easy to read and accessible for most first year college students.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

Chapters are easy to follow, and each chapter is organized so information can be found quickly.

Modularidad clasificación: 5

One of the best things about this textbook is how well the sections are organized. Headings a clear, and each section has "key takeaways" and "discussion starters".

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 3

I did not like the approach the authors used to organize the chapters in the book. Carbohydrates, Lipids and Proteins each had their own chapter, but the authors divided vitamins and minerals into function, rather than vitamin/mineral identity. It does not work as well as other nutrition textbooks, which dedicate individual chapters to vitamins and minerals separately.

Interfaz clasificación: 2

None of the links to videos, articles, etc. work in this textbook. Students become very frustrated when they cannot access additional information to support the chapter. I tried to provide alternate sources for the links, but it was incredibly time-consuming.

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

There were not grammatical problems with this textbook.

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 4

The book does a good job in chapter 14 of providing multiple perspectives on nutrition. I wish all nutrition textbooks included this. However, the textbook would have been even better if they had included more cultural perspectives throughout every chapter, instead of putting it in just one near the end.

I would not recommend this book to professors hoping to find one good textbook for their human nutrition class. It does provide good basic nutrition information, but a lot of the science is so outdated that you will have to spend a good deal of time updating the information for you students. Additionally, none of the in-text links to videos and articles work. I also did not like the way the authors split the micronutrient chapters into function, rather than type. It is much better to have chapters dedicated to minerals and vitamins instead. Lastly, there are no instructor materials (test banks, PowerPoints, etc.) which also takes more of the instructor's time to create. This is a good supplemental book for a nutrition course, but I would not use this again as the only textbook in a college course.

Opinión de Amanda Margolin, Adjunct faculty, Portland Community College on 5/26/21

Exhaustividad clasificación: 4 ver menos

I found that the text covered the subject matter in an appropriate way. I appreciated how there were videos included when more challenging concepts were being discussed such as digestion and absorption. I also found the images used to be effective in enhancing the text. I found the organization of material to help with the comprehension of the material such as in the section devoted to carbohydrates, information about diabetes was included. If I were to implement this text I would expand on the "antioxidant" section in the chapter about vitamins as I found this section to be quite brief. Some of the sections on minerals do not provide food sources such as the section on the copper, I would include this information so the material is consistent and thorough. In chapter 10 I would include more information related to fuel sources during different types of exercise such as which fuel source our body turns to for jogging vs. sprinting. In 11.3 "Infancy Nutrition" I would include more up to date in formation related to food allergies such as the new science behind when to introduce peanut butter. Some of the chapters such as, chapters 11 and 12 were well written chapters in the text in terms of providing enough content to fully understand the subject where other chapters I feel I would need to expand on the content to provide a more thorough understanding of the material such as Chapters 10 (section 10.3) sports nutrition was quite brief.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 5

The content presented in this text is accurate and references are provided throughout the text. The content did not present any bias issues.

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 3

Overall this information from this text is up to date. The current dietary guidelines focus on 2020-2025 which is our most up to date guidelines released from the government. This text uses information from the 2015 guidelines. This is something I would need to update for my course in order to have the most up to date information related to our guidelines. Similarly, we have information for Healthy People 2030, this text uses information from Healthy People 2020. The text also uses a picture of the old nutrition facts panel when discussing how to read a label. I would include the up to date nutrition facts panel if I implement this text for my course. I thought the section about sugar substitutes and added sugars was very relevant to today's culture. The progression of material will make it easy as an instructor for me to implement for my course.

Claridad clasificación: 5

The information is presented in a clear and logical way making it easy for the reader to follow along and move section to section through the material. At the end of each section there is a "Key Takeaway" section which provides nice summary points for the reader. At the end of each section there is also a "Discussion starter" section which provides the reader with thought-provoking questions to increase understanding of the material. I appreciated how within the text you will find references to material from previous chapters such as in 9.1 "Metabolism overview" there is a reference to material covered from chapter 6.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

The text is consistent from chapter to chapter as well as section to section within each chapter. The same organizational structure is used for each section providing consistency throughout the text.

Modularidad clasificación: 5

The text is organized and flows nicely for the reader from chapter to chapter. Each chapter is broken down into sections. Each section begins with learning objectives and ends with "key takeaways and discussion starters" to enhance the material presented in the text. At the end of each chapter there is a section "It's your turn" which allows the reader to go through example quiz questions and discussion questions to expand knowledge.

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 5

The book begins with more introductory topics such as "Nutrition and you" and "A healthy diet" which provides students terminology and some nutrition basics. From there the chapters are presented in a logical way, building on material as the text goes on. For example, chapter 3 delves into metabolism/digestion/absorption where the following chapters focus on macronutrients specifically as they relate to these processes.

Interfaz clasificación: 5

I did not notice any significant interface issues. The text was easy to navigate and all of the images and videos appeared appropriately free of distortion within the text.

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

I did not notice any grammatical errors when reviewing the text.

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 5

The text mentions cultural as it relates to food choices. There is also a section in chapter 2 about "diets around the world" focusing on food culture from other regions.

Opinión de Chimene Castor, Associate Professor, Howard University on 4/29/21

Exhaustividad clasificación: 3 ver menos

It comprehensive for an introductory book in nutrition. The clinical nutrition information should be more comprehensive, but the instructor can additional reading materials

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 5

Nutrition is a progressive field and needs continuous revision - this textbook is updated

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 4

Yes, it is updated with necessary content

Claridad clasificación: 4

The book is well organized in the necessary material to review with students.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

Yes

Modularidad clasificación: 4

Missing food analysis component

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 4

It is organized in presenting the key concepts and the six classes of nutrients.

Interfaz clasificación: 5

Yes, the materials are well presented but need to have a diverse groups

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 4

The book is clear for students to understand.

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 4

A more diverse group can be used to represent the global community.

Food analysis for nutrients and food frequency; missing global BMI for children to compare with CDC

Opinión de Anne Goodwin, Professor, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on 6/30/20

Exhaustividad clasificación: 4 ver menos

This book provides a good overview of nutrition for the non-major; topics such as nutrition for athletes and global food security are largely omitted, and information about the current dietary guidelines for Americans will need to be provided as supplemental information.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 5

No errors were noted in the reviewed material.

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 5

Since nutrition is a constantly evolving science, current information will always need to be added, but this book is formatted in a way that will allow this to be added.

Claridad clasificación: 5

I believe this text has clarity appropriate to the non-major student.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

The organization is consistent and well-suited to the topic and audience.

Modularidad clasificación: 5

The sections are easily accessed through the index and can be presented in an alternate order as desired by the instructor.

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 5

The topics are ordered in a fashion similar to that found in other nutrition textbooks.

Interfaz clasificación: 5

In the book sections used so far, no interface issues were noted.

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

In the book sections used so far, no issues with grammar.

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 4

The section on international diets is a welcome addition; other cultural aspects may need to be addressed by the instructor in greater detail.

I am adopting this text for use, with supplemental materials, for my non-majors nutrition course.

Opinión de Sharron Guillett, Full Professor, Shenandoah University on 6/18/20

Exhaustividad clasificación: 5 ver menos

The book is comprehensive and covers all aspects of nutrition across the life span as well as issues related to policy and sustainability. The chapters related to chronic diseases and eating habits around the world are particularly well done.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 3

The book is accurate in content areas that address the basics of nutritional science. For example, the information about nutrients, how they are used to support health and the foods in which they can be found is accurate. Conclusions/opinions presented by the authors about relationships between nutrients and or eating behaviors and health are sometimes inaccurate, overly simplified or overly generalized. For example, the statement that diabetes is caused by diet is not true. Diet is only one of many contributing factors. Similarly, the statement that "to do all of the things that you like to do are dependent upon one factor—your health" is an over simplification that serves as bias toward nutrition as "the one" factor necessary for good health and good living

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 3

The factual components of the text are current and easily updated thanks to the modular format of the text. The real issue is that rather than having resources and references at the end of chapter sections, they are embedded in the text making it not only challenging to read but also challenging and cumbersome to update the links that are no longer working. Some material related to dietary trends and fads needs to be updated and some notions about age groups have changed over time. For example people aged 51 are no longer considered "older adults".

Claridad clasificación: 5

The prose is clear , free of jargon and based on the "SMOG method", written at an 11th to 12th grade level. Definitions are also provided where needed. No glossary.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

The book is consistent in format, framework and terminology.

Modularidad clasificación: 5

The book is designed as a modular text. There are assignments/activities at the end of each section within the chapters that make it easy to use the text in a variety of course delivery methods/timelines.

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 4

The book is organized in a logical fashion moving from simple to complex. Chapter divisions make it easy for the reader to assess their knowledge in manageable chunks.

Interfaz clasificación: 2

The text integrates the narrative with both internal and external links . Most of the external links are broken and take the reader to pages that either don't exist or are "deep links" that require a great deal of searching to locate. Even the Appendix which is a link to dietary requirements is broken. Many of the internal links seem unnecessary or inappropriate. For example there is a discussion of the nutritional triad (social, physical, mental) and an internal link takes the reader to a picture of three women in yoga poses pointing at the words social, physical,mental.

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

The text is free of spelling and grammatical errors.

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 5

The book uses images of persons from a variety of races, genders and ages. No offensive language or cultural references were noted.

This book is like a classic car that no longer runs but still has value in its parts. There are segments, tables and charts that could be "harvested" and used to support learning about nutrients , their sources and and how healthy eating is life sustaining.

Opinión de Nicole Stob, Instructor, University of Colorado Boulder on 6/11/20

Exhaustividad clasificación: 4 ver menos

All areas of the subject were covered appropriately. Terms were defined throughout the text, but a comprehensive glossary or index was not found.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 4

The vast majority of the content was accurate, but some of the content needs to be updated and therefore not accurate.

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 4

The vast majority of the content was up-to-date, but some of the content needs to be updated. For example, content relating to the nutrition facts label is not updated.

Claridad clasificación: 5

The writing is clear and easy to understand. Adequate context is provided.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

The text is internally consistent, using the same terminology and framework throughout.

Modularidad clasificación: 5

The text is broken up appropriately, allowing for breaks in the reading with links to outside resources, figures, etc.

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 5

The topic are organized in a logical manner.

Interfaz clasificación: 3

Several broken links to outside resources were found in chapters 1-3 (none of the other chapters' links were checked).

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

No grammatical errors were noted in the text.

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 5

The text is culturally sensitive and does a nice job of using examples from different cultures and exploring the diets of different cultures as well.

Opinión de Mahdi Garelnabi, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell on 6/7/20

Exhaustividad clasificación: 5 ver menos

The authors comprehensively covered the topics from all aspects.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 5

Quite accurate information

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 5

The book is timely and relevant to the area of human nutrition

Claridad clasificación: 5

Authors used very easy and clear language to follow

Consistencia clasificación: 5

pretty good consistency.

Modularidad clasificación: 5

The text is very rich with background, at some point lay language is used for better understanding.

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 5

The book is well organized. It is divided into broader chapters and small topics with each chapters

Interfaz clasificación: 5

The text is certainly free from from and interface issues. Figures and images are clear. The book is nicely displayed.

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

No grammatical mistakes was seen

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 5

No cultural sensitive item was observed.

This is a great book to adopt for human nutrition.

Opinión de Clare McEnroe, Adjunct Professor, Raritan Valley Community College on 3/25/20

Exhaustividad clasificación: 4 ver menos

The textbook does cover the surface of many topics important for students to know and understand and can use.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 4

The information is unbiased. There needs to be some updating to some of the content. As in any science field, nutrition keeps changing and there would need to be some supplements added to this text to bring it up to date. This would definitely be possible to do by the instructor.

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 4

There are some links that no longer work and would need to be updated. Also there has been some new information that can be added in terms of fad diets and diet trends that are new since the text has been written.

Claridad clasificación: 4

The language/terminology used is appropriate for an introduction course and mainly taken by students who are not science majors and just want some background information about nutrition.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

The set up of each chapter has a good flow and easy to understand.

Modularidad clasificación: 4

The chapters are set up as if you can use them in that order but wouldn't matter if they were used out of order either. They are pretty much separate topics but can also be related.

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 4

Each topic is very clear and covers the majority of the information for an introduction course. Understandable and usable information is presented.

Interfaz clasificación: 4

Some links do not work and may need to replaced or updated with newer information.

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

I did not notice grammatical errors.

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 5

The textbook can be used by anyone, There is no cultural insensitivity at all.

This is a textbook to consider for an Introduction course. The updates and additional topics could be supplemented without a problem.

Opinión de Caleb Bazyler, Assistant Professor, East Tennessee State University on 3/4/20

Exhaustividad clasificación: 5 ver menos

The textbook does an excellent job fulfilling its purpose of communicating nutrition content to a novice audience with a non-science background. The table of contents appropriately links content provided in each chapter including subtitles and end of chapter exercises.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 5

The content was accurate and unbiased. Controversial topics were handled fairly with all opinions presented. I appreciated the functional approach discussing nutrition in the context of different bodily systems. This is very intuitive for an introductory level course.

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 5

Much of the basic science content will not need to be updated, and sections that will need to be updated (e.g. reference intakes, results from pending clinical trials, updates on controversial topics) should not be difficult to edit.

Claridad clasificación: 5

All key terms are in bold throughout the textbook and carefully defined. I also appreciated the external links to video explanations where relevant.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

The text is internally consistent in regard to terminology and structure. The section and subsection layout was easy to follow throughout.

Modularidad clasificación: 5

The chapter sections and subsections are easy to follow, and the authors do a great job building on content discussed in earlier chapters. The key takeaways and discussion segments at the end of each chapter are a great way to connect readers with the content, and provide topics of conversation in the classroom.

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 5

The topics are presented in a logical manner consistent with other nutrition textbooks.

Interfaz clasificación: 4

While the text was mostly easy to navigate, I would have also appreciated a small table of contents at the beginning of each chapter with links to different parts of the chapter. This would make each chapter much easier to navigate. Also, some of the external links were broken, and some tables were not fully viewable (e.g. Tables 2.12 and 4.7).

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

I did not notice any grammatical errors.

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 5

The content at the end of the textbook on food industry, politics, cost and security was an excellent addition. I also appreciated the comparisons of diets across cultures, and pros/cons of popular dietary regiments.

Opinión de Meagan Helmick, Assistant Professor of Public Health, Radford University on 1/6/20

Exhaustividad clasificación: 5 ver menos

This text does a good job at providing students with information about macro- and micro-nutrients and how they work in your body. It also covers nutrition at different life stages. The target audience is well thought about in this book, and is needed for students that are not nutrition majors.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 5

I did not notice any inaccuracies.

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 5

This text is up-to-date, but will need to be updated when the new Dietary Guidelines are published. However, this is something that I, as an instructor, can supplement to my students. The logical nature of each chapter in the book as well as the overall progression allows for students to have a well rounded understanding of nutrition.

Claridad clasificación: 5

The textbook does a good job of explaining key terms as the person is reading (on the left side of the page), and avoids any extreme use of terminology that students might not be able to grasp.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

The chapters are set up the same way, which helps the reader to know what to expect as they progress through the textbook. The key takeaways and discussion starters are great tools to help students understand what they are reading and can serve as prompts in class for discussion. The end of the chapter exercises also provide this opportunity to engage with the reading and make sure students comprehended the information.

Modularidad clasificación: 5

The sections are broken down into appropriate sizes by topics. I like that the table of contents include the sections as well. This helps students quickly find the information they are looking for.

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 5

Overall the organization is well thought out. Each chapter has components that build on previous chapters, but not in such a way that doesn't allow you to skip chapters or reorder the readings.

Interfaz clasificación: 4

The charts and for some of the chapters were cut off, I think this is likely because this was designed with a book-binding format, but I was still able to read the information and understand what it intended to state. Appendix A's link did not work when I clicked on it to see the DRI tables.

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

No issues that I noted.

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 5

Chapter 14 does a good job of highlighting "Diets Around the World" which provides different cultural takes on diets. I did not note anything insensitive.

Opinión de Tina Moody, Biology Faculty, Northland Community and Technical College on 7/1/19

Exhaustividad clasificación: 5 ver menos

For the target audience, the book is right on track. It doesn't assume one has a chemistry or biology background - perfect for my nutrition course.

Precisión de contenido clasificación: 5

I didn't see any incorrect information.

Relevancia / Longevidad clasificación: 4

The book is fairly up to date (available since the end of 2012) but with this level of textbook and its information it isn't likely to change much. Any new information is something that I try to incorporate into my class materials regardless of the textbook source. When the FNB publishes new guidelines in 2020, I will be able to update these for my students easily.

Claridad clasificación: 5

I like how important terms are defined on the left side of the page.

Consistencia clasificación: 5

Each of the chapters is set up the same way making it very intuitive once a student becomes familiar with the textbook. I believe the 'Key Takeaways' and 'Discussion Starters' at the end of each section and the 'End-of-Chapter Exercises' will help students insure they truly understood what they just read.

Modularidad clasificación: 5

The way each chapter is broken down into sections will work well for my class. Each section is listed in the Table of Contents as well, making it even easier for students to find what they need. The 'End-of-Chapter Exercises' are even in the TOC.

Organización / Estructura / Flujo clasificación: 5

Occasionally there are topics I have tackled in a slightly different order in the past (vegetarianism after a discussion of protein structure and function for example) but that's just personal taste.

Interfaz clasificación: 4

The only issue I had with some of the charts is that some of the acronyms in the chart were not explained in the description. Some of the writing was small as well, though I'm not sure how the authors could have dealt with that and still had a good flow of information rather than flipping back and forth between pages to see a larger chart.

Errores gramaticales clasificación: 5

I did not see any grammatical errors.

Relevancia cultural clasificación: 4

I feel the textbook did well in this area. Chapter 14 Politics and Perspectives covered the globe well in the 'Diets around the World' section.