286 EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS IN REVIEW

five-tide series features nutrition and health information from CNN's magazine talk show "On the Menu." In each video, reg­istered dietitian Carolyn O'Neal shares recipes, dietary hints and stories of real peo­ple who are successfully making lifestyle changes for better health.

The first in the series, "Eating Healthy for Life," provides a look at how Americans are modifYing their daily eating habits to incorporate more healthful foods, even when time for a healthful meal is limited. Suggestions for lowfut breakfust foods are provided, as well as for snacks at midday, healthful lunchtime fure, and lowfut sugges­tions for dining out at fust food restaurants.

"Eating Healthy when Dining Out" presents examples of how chefS from a vari­ety of restaurants are lightening up menu items in response to consumer demands. Excellent gourmet tips are provided for "light" versions of French, Cajun, South­ern, Cuban and Mexican style cooking. Most of the restaurants depicted are up­scale; however, examples of healthful fust food restaurants selections are included.

"Healthy Eating for Weight Control" emphasizes the importance of making small, gradual changes in one's eating and exercise habits to ensure permanent weight loss. Several inspiring success stories are re­counted, as well as examples of successful weight control programs. These include the "Healthy Dividends" program (Dairy Council, 1990), which focuses on fut budg­eting to control weight, and the "Freedom from Fat" program developed by Kaiser Permanente, which emphasizes behavior modification as the key component for weight loss success.

Lowering total fut intake to improve cholesterol levels, lose weight and enhance one's energy level is the focus of "Eating Healthy for Heart Health." This video pro­vides the most practical information of the series and includes tips on calculating one's daily fat allotment, reading labels to determine percent of calories from fat, distinguishing between cooking oils, and selecting lowfut products in the super­market.

The fifth video, "Healthy Eating for Kids," discusses the growing problem of inactivity and obesity among young chil­dren. Ellen Satter and other experts in child nutrition comment on some ways that par­ents can promote more healthful eating at home, and offer some quick tips for fust and easy microwave cooking.

Each segment in this video series pro­vides accurate information in an entertain­ing format. The film quality is excellent, and the short vignettes of real people suc­cessfully dealing with health and nutrition problems will give viewers encouragement to change unhealthful eating habits. The gourmet cooking tips will appeal to every­one; however, ftom a practical standpoint, the suggestions are geared to individuals with a fairly well-equipped kitchen.

The suggested target audience of the series is elementary through high school students; however, it is this reviewer's opinion that the series, with the exception of "Healthy Eating for Kids," would not appeal to a young audience. The references to such situations as business lunches and coffee breaks would make the "Eating Healthy" series more relevant for use in adult education classes on nutrition and health. Although these situations would not apply to a high school audience either, the teaching guide, which accompanies each video, orients the information contained in the films so it can be used to initiate discus­sions of such issues as weight control, healthful eating, and the importance of exercise in the lives of young teens.

Each teaching guide also provides use­ful background information that will enhance the instructor's knowledge of each topic. Discussion questions geared to junior high or high school level audiences will promote thinking skills. A glossary of terms, as well as the bibliography of re­sources, will assist those wanting more in­depth coverage of each topic. In addition, a variety of activities are provided for class­room use. These include label reading, risk and diet assessment, evaluation of weight loss programs, and menu interpretation. All activity sheets are camera-ready for imme­diate use.

These films and the accompanying teaching guides will be a worthwhile in­vestment for instructors teaching home economics and health/nutrition at the mid­dle or high school level. The "Eating Healthy" series would also be highly rec­ommended for use as part of a nutrition program for a middle to upper middle class adult audience. Turner MultiMedia has also put together Volume 2 in this series, which includes: "Eating Healthy on a Budget," "Eating Healthy for Sports," "Eating Healthy for the Best Years," and "A Taste of Eating Healthy."

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Consumer / Prrifessional Fit or Fat for the 90's, Bailey, c., 1991. From PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314-1698, 112" VHS videocassette, 77 minutes, call 1-800-424-7963 for current price.

In this extremely entertaining and infor­mative video, Covert Bailey, author of Fit or Fat?, explains in simple lay terms how viewers can lose body fut without sacrific­ing their health. Bailey presents a common sense approach to fitness that includes help­ing viewers understand how body fut is made and metabolized and an explanation of the various exercises that can contribute to increased fut breakdown and total fitness .

Anyone, from the professional working in the area of fitness and health to the sports enthusiast with limited knowledge of the subject, will find the scientific explanations useful. Using excellent graphics and many analogies, Bailey explains how cholesterol and sugar are metabolized, why a fit person bums fut more efficiendy than an over­weight person, how lipid is synthesized and broken down in fut cells, and how indi­viduals can "train" adipocytes to release fut . Caffeine is discussed in terms of its lipid releasing effect; however, Bailey cautions that caffeine consumption has its negative effects on athletic performance. The bene­fits of exercise as it relates to all fucets of metabolism and health are presented, as well as the negative consequences of being over fut.

The latter half of the film discusses which exercises are best for losing fut, as well as how to choose an exercise program that will assure success. Bailey's simple rules of thumb in starting an exercise program incorporate current principles in exercise science and will be easily remembered by viewers. One important point that was omitted from this discussion, however, is that individuals who are new to exerciSing should get a checkup or their physician's approval prior to starting any exercise pro­gram. Also, the point that anyone begin­ning an exercise program should start slowly and build gradually is not clearly stated and should be emphasized. The dis­cussions of why many exercises may not be efficient "fut burners," the difference be­tween anaerobic vs. aerobic activities and high vs. low intensity exercises with respect to their fut burning potential will be useful to viewers.

This film will be both motivational and informative for individuals who want to get

Journal of Nutrition Education Volume 25 Number 5

and stay fit pennanently. Although no spe­cifics on diet are discussed, Bailey has pro­duced several other films that may fit this bill. These include "Sugar and Other Car­bohydrates" (30 minutes, $29.95) and "Steroids, Cholesterol and Other Fats" (30 minutes, $29.95) that both can be ordered from PBS Video. The film would be rec­ommended for anyone interested in learn­ing more about how to lose body fat through exercise.

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Consumer I Professional Eat Smart, 1991. From PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314-1698, 112" VHS videocassette, 60 minutes, $39.95.

This video will help consumers separate fact from fiction when it comes to the diet­disease connection. "Eat Smart" focuses on heart disease and cancer and provides scien­tific evidence, translated into under­standable facts, pertaining to the role of different nutrients in increasing cancer and heart disease risk. In addition, the film dem­onstrates how making small changes in the diet can significantly reduce risk for chronic disease.

The film is well-organized and the sub­ject matter clearly presented. The first 30 minutes of the film discuss the scientific evidence used to formulate dietary recom­mendations for heart disease and cancer risk reduction. The evidence presented is based on the National/Research Council's report Diet and Health. Brief interviews with sev­eral nutrition researchers involved with the Framingham Heart Study, The Seven Country Study, and the Bogalusa Heart Study present supportive evidence for a link between saturated fat, cholesterol and heart disease. Several useful graphics are included to show how saturated fat contributes to plaque formation on artery walls. The diets

of two other countries (China and South­ern Italy) are examined to demonstrate how increased consumption of grains, fruits, and vegetables and reduced meat intake can lead to reduced incidence of heart disease. Also included is a discussion of the role of anti­oxidants in heart disease prevention.

The role of fat in various forms of can­cer is examined, and experts from the Na­tional Cancer Institute comment on the epidemiological evidence provided by ani­mal studies that demonstrate the role of fat in cancer causation. Preventive dietary fac­tors discussed include phytochemicals, fiber and antioxidants.

The second half of the film lists and discusses the recommendations put forth by the National Research Council to reduce risk of chronic disease. Practical suggestions are provided on ways to implement the recommendations, including tips on label reading and choosing lowfat products in the supennarket. This information will prob­ably be a review for most viewers. The film discusses the law recently passed by Con­gress to develop a new labeling system. This segment of the video will soon need to be updated with the new labeling infonnation.

Quick tips are provided for dining out. Viewers are taken on location to Italy and China to examine how foods are prepared in restaurants in these countries. Although the prepared meals shown in the film will help to convince viewers that lowfat eating doesn't have to be boring, it would have been more helpful to take viewers to differ­ent ethnic restaurants in the U.S. and dis­cuss how to decipher menu terminology. Healthful eating at the fast food restaurant is discussed briefly.

The film ends with a commentary on the future direction of nutrition research and policy in reducing the incidence of chronic disease. Mention is made of the food pyramid and how its first publication was rejected. This infonnation needs up­dating as well.

The film is of excellent quality and the information is accurate, although some needs to be updated. The film would be useful as an introduction to the topic of diet and disease for use in a high school health curriculum or adult education classes on nutrition. The film comes with copies of the Executive Summary of the report Diet and Health (National Academy of Sciences, 1989), the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1990), and the Eatfor Health Food Guide (Giant Food Inc., 1991), which lists the calorie, fat, choles-

September. October 1993 287

terol, sodium, saturated fat and fiber con­tent of hundreds offood items.

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CURRICULUM

Professional The Weigh to Eat! A Program for the Prevention of Eating Disturbances Among Adolescents, Neumark-Sztainer, D., 1992. From D. Neumark-Sztainer, Dept. of Medicine, Hebrew Univ.-Haddas­sah, P.O. Box 1200, Jerusalem, Israel, cur­riculum, $15.00.

The concept behind this curriculum is a good one-to prevent eating disorders by promoting good eating practices and a healthy body image in young people. The program contains many interesting activi­ties; however, its usefulness is limited by the lack of background information, the lengthy units, and the complexity of some of the activities.

The curriculum contains 10 lessons, which cover the following topics: self­awareness of body image and social pres­sures, healthful eating, weight control, behavior modification, identifying abnor­mal eating behaviors, and learning to con­trol societal influences. The setting for implementation is unclear. The lessons ap­pear to be too long and involved for one classroom period (most would take one or more hours) and the content is unlikely to appeal to adolescents as an extra-curricular course. Although flexibility is encouraged in utilizing the curriculum, it would have been helpful for the author to provide sug­gestions as to how the lessons could be divided if time is limited.

Many of the nutrition concepts pre­sented in the teacher's guide assume a fairly good nutrition knowledge, making the cur­riculum inappropriate for most teachers. The lesson on weight control involves hav­ing students plan a weight loss, gain or maintenance diet. Close monitoring of this activity by a trained nutrition professional is recommended to ensure that students util­ized the information properly. Some of the student activities also appear too complex for many adolescents. Planning diets based on the exchange system, identifying changes in nutrition needs associated with adolescence, and recognizing the effects of adolescence on body and self-image are dif­ficult activities, even for adults.

Many activities in this curriculum could be used to teach adolescents about good