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An Atlas of Obesity and Weight Control,

by George A Bray, 2003, 135 pages, hardcover, $89.95. The Parthenon Publishing Group, London.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Center for the Study of Nutrition Medicine, Feldberg 880, East Campus, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, E-mail: gblackbu{at}bidmc.harvard.edu

An Atlas of Obesity and Weight Control is a definitive first in the field. Its images are vivid and accurate. Its charts and illustrations are well labeled in ways that will help students and health care professionals understand, diagnose, and treat overweight and obesity. A compendium of current knowledge, the atlas is a concise guide to the history, epidemiology, pathology, and treatment of obesity. It is also a mother lode of more than 200 critical tables, facts, and figures—an excellent resource for researchers and educators.

Atlases tend to become quickly dated, and this one is no exception. Science (1) and the Journal of Clinical Investigation (2) have already refined and enhanced several of the tables, charts, and photos in this atlas. Nonetheless, most remain unchanged, and many are classics, including the leptin trial pictures of the ob/ob mouse (3) and the most widely referenced figure by Bray and Gray (4), entitled "Correlation Between BMI and Mortality."

The illustrations in this atlas are well rendered and clearly explained, which reflects admirable balance between complexity and usability. The content is orderly and succinct and is organized into 10 chapters of figures beginning with "Encounter with the Obese Patient" and ending with "Surgical Treatment of Obesity: a Serious but Successful Treatment." The intervening chapters contain everything currently known about the disease of obesity—from factors affecting body composition, prevalence, and the risk of cardiovascular disease to the effect of obesity on life expectancy, an evaluation and introduction to obesity treatment, and the relation of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance to central adiposity.

In his brief preface to this atlas, Bray notes that the book brings together in one place many of the lessons he has tried to teach to those interested in this problem. With obesity now pandemic and one of the world's most costly and preventable causes of morbidity and mortality, the lessons provided in this atlas are critical for anyone who treats patients with obesity or is involved in the field in any way.

This atlas is a valuable resource in the fight against obesity and is current, complete, and clearly written. It will facilitate the much-needed education of clinicians and researchers, and those who read it will benefit from the author's decades of work in the field. An Atlas of Obesity and Weight Control belongs on clinicians' bookshelves along with encyclopedias, textbooks, and physicians' desk references. I highly recommend this atlas to physicians, surgeons, gastroenterologists, clinical investigators, teachers, and students—particularly those entering this exciting field. It will also be of value to nurses, dietitians, and others who can translate its wealth of data into more effective patient care.

REFERENCES

1. Kelner K, Helmuth L. Obesity–what is to be done? Science 2003 Feb 7:845.
2. Korner J, Aronne LJ. The emerging science of body weight regulation and its impact on obesity treatment.J Clin Invest 2003;111:565–70.[Medline]
3. Ryan DH, Bray GA. Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Philanthropy refocuses nutrition thinking. J La State Med Soc 1990;142:22–4, 27–30.
4. Bray GA, Gray DS. Obesity. Part II—Treatment. West J Med 1988;149:555–71.[Medline]

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