Book Reviews
ans living in the United States. Chapter 4 includes an interesting discussion of teaching nutritional education in Puerto Rico us-Hispanic Foodways, Nutrition, and Health. By ing the Puerto Rican Food Guide, a cultur-Diva Sanjur. xiii ฯฉ 336 pp. Boston: Allyn and ally competent adaptation of the USDA Food Bacon. 1995. $4.95 (cloth).
Guide Pyramid. Chapters 6 and 7 look at diet-related dis-Hispanic Foodways, Nutrition, and eases and other health issues, and how they Health provides an interesting, although affect Hispanic populations. Diseases insomewhat basic, review of the nutritional clude cancer, cardiovascular disease, noninand disease patterns of several Hispanic/ sulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, gallblad-Latino groups living in the United States.
der disease, and dental disease. Health care According to Sanjur, the central theme of utilization and obesity are also addressed. this manuscript is to "examine the many Chapters 8 and 9 are aimed primarily at similarities and parallels among the various nutritionists and provide a discussion of Hispanic/Latino groups within the United applying the U.S. dietary guidelines to His-States relative to their food and nutrition panic diets as well as ideas about how to situation, in order to provide a more meanreach Hispanics through dietary counseling ingful context for program planners and and nutrition education. The bulk of these practitioners to implement action" (p. xi).
two chapters focuses on basic nutrition This topic is one of extreme interest for methodology with only brief sections on how public health programs. The book provides the information applies to Hispanic populageneral background information on dietary tions. Chapter 10 supplies a belated discusassessment, nutrition counseling, and edusion of data collection methodologies for dication, and dietary and disease patterns of etary intakes and advocates the importance selected U.S. Hispanic populations.
of a national data bank of ethnic foods. The text is divided into 10 chapters and an
Sanjur also provides an appendix with a appendix. Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of short nutrient composition table for various the role of migration in the United States, Hispanic foods, unfortunately no mixed a discussion of the classificatory complexity dishes are included. and confusion surrounding the use of the
The general organization of this book is term Hispanic, and a historical perspective difficult to follow. No attempt is made to proon the impetus of different ethnic groups to vide transitions between chapters, therefore immigrate to the United States. Chapter 2 the intent of the author is frequently unclear, focuses on how food habits and ideologies although the chapter summaries do provide are affected by ethnicity, and how Hispanic some insight. For the sake of clarity, it would women's health, nutrition, education, work, also have been useful to include summary time use, and status as heads of household tables comparing and contrasting the diets affect the nutrition of their children.
of the various ethnic groups and a systematic Chapters 3 through 5 detail dietary patpattern of topics. For example, Chapter 3 terns of Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, focuses on Mexican-American diets and in-Dominicans, Cubans, Panamanians, and cludes sections on the strengths and weak-Salvadorans. Each chapter concludes with a nesses of the diet, breast-feeding trends, and list of foods that correspond to the group(s) children's diets. These topics are not consisdescribed in each chapter. The chapters protently addressed in the other ethnic groups vide a brief review of the nutritional literabut may be addressed peripherally under ture for each of these ethnic groups, and a different topic headings. While the goal of discussion of traditional Mexican, Puerto Rithis book is to provide useful background can, Dominican, Cuban, and Salvadoran information to program planners and pracdiets and how they are reflected in the diets titioners working in Hispanic communities, of individuals living on the mainland, the important topics of interest such as the nu-United States. However, it is unclear as to tritional counseling and assessment of diwhy the Panamanian population is included etary intake of Hispanic populations are only in this manuscript as no attempt is made to link the traditional diet to that of Panamani-dealt with in a general fashion. These topics