Reviews of books and articles
Those who wish to have a book or article listed in this section can send an e-mail to reviews@auxologia.org with a review of the book or with the title and bibliographic reference of the paper. The editorial staff of the web site will decide whether or not to list it (the listing is free of charge and the name of the person who sends the e-mail will appear - with permission -in parentheses).

Growth Charts for 20 countries on 4 continents
Ivan Cortinovis, Elena Spada, Silvano Milani, Ivan Nicoletti
Edizioni Centro Studi Auxologici/Nicomp LE, Firenze (Italy), 2006, pp 61, € 15 + shipping charges, ISBN 88-87814-38-4

Height Growth Charts for 20 countries on 4 continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, America. Physicians will be able to evaluate with suffciient precision the growth of children who do not belong to the ethnic majority of the country in which he or she practices.


Human Growth in Sickness and in Health
Plenary lectures from the 10th International Congress of Auxology< br>Editors: Ivan Nicoletti, Lawrence M. Schell and Giulio Gilli
Edizioni Centro Studi Auxologici/Nicomp LE, Firenze (Italy), 2006, pp 109, € 16 + shipping charges, ISBN 88-87814-33-3

The Tenth International Congress of Auxology was held from 4 to 7 July, 2004 in Florence, Italy. The Congress was sponsored by the University School of Medicine of Florence and the International Association for Human Auxology.
The theme of the Congress was “Human Growth in Health and Sickness”. The present volume - Number 5 in the series “Auxology - Advances in the Study of Human Growth and Development” - includes the James M. Tanner Lecture, given by Edoardo Boncinelli, University of Milan, which centers on the genetic aspects of growth. The other contributions deal with The contribution of auxology to the study of the aetiology of diseases, Modern urbanism and human growth, and The handling of data on psychomotor development.
A second volume, to follow shortly, will contain a selection of papers from across the field of human growth and development, in health as well as illness. Because of the wide range of subjects involved, we hope the two volumes will be useful to a broad readership of scientists.


Physiological and Pathological Auxology
Editors: Ivan Nicoletti, Lodovico Benso, Giulio Gilli
Foreword by J. M. Tanner
Edizioni Centro Studi Auxologici/Nicomp LE, Firenze (Italy), 2004, pp 650+XIV, e 130 + shipping charges, ISBN 88-87814-22-8
Contributors
J. Argente, P. Banin, E. Barden, L. Benso, S. Bernasconi, E. Bertino, H. Böhles, V. Bruni, F. Camanni, N. Cameron, B. Casini, E. Chiappini, T.J. Cole, A. Corrias, I. Cortinovis, A. Coscia, M. de Martino, C. de Sanctis, V. De Sanctis, H.G. Doerr, P.B.Eveleth, V. Fano, F. Galluzzi, E. Ghigo, G. Gilli, G. Guzzaloni, L. Hagenäs, B.P. Hauffa, R. Hauspie, M. Hernández, K. Knutson, G. Igli Baroncelli, L. Iughetti, H. Lejarraga, R.M. Malina, S. Mariani, S. Milioli, F. Morabito, D. Moro, M.T. Muñoz, I. Nicoletti, G. Offner, P. Parisi, B. Predieri, G. Rapisardi, E. Ravaioli, T. Rohrer, R.J. Rona, G. Saggese, R. Salti, L.M. Schell, S. Stagi, M.E. Street, L. Tafi, M. Vercauteren, A. Vierucci, C. Volta, B. Zemel, M. Živicnjak

This volume is an updated textbook of growth and its disorders written by known auxologists and endocrinologists. It is divided into 3 parts:
Part 1: Physiological growth (11 chapters) includes genetics, nutrition, measuring techniques, body composition, skeletal maturation, growth reference standards, pre- and post-natal growth
Part 2: Pathological growth (17 chapters) describes abnormal states of growth in endocrine, metabolic and other diseases
Part 3: Social and epidemiological auxology (5 chapters) reviews the secular trend, variations of growth in different populations, effects of environment on growth and effects of sport on growth.
Each chapter has a reference list up to 2002 in some papers. At the end is an appendix of few National Growth Charts demonstrating the subtle differences. The index is restricted.
A useful text to pediatric endocrinologists and auxologists wherever they still are. (Pediatric Endocrinology Reviews 2, 414, 2005)

Desarrollo del nino en contexto
Horacio Lejarraga (editor)
Colaboradores Martin Bax, Liliana Bouzas, Graciela Brik, Maria Magdalena Contreras, Liliana Czornyj, Haydée Echeverria, Beatriz Grippo, Diana Kelmansky, Horacio Lejarraga, Manuel Maza, Luis Novali, Alejandro O'Donnell, Maria Cecilia Pascucci, Mario Ripoli, Violeta Ruiz, Virginia Schejter, Pablo Vinocur, Patricia Visintin, Héctor Waisburg
Paidós, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, México, 2005

Sin duda es en ios primeros anos de la vida cuando se configuran aspectos del desarrollo que determinaran el futuro de las personas, tales como la conducta sensorio-motriz, la posibilidad de aprender, la adquisición del lenguaje, la respuesta emocional, la capacidad de abstracción. Indudablemente las cuestiones vinculadas al desarrollo ìnfantil y a sus perturbaciones ocuparàn en las próximas décadas un lugar de creciente importancia tanto en la formación académica de los profesionales como en su pràctica posterior. Esta obra es el fruto de la extensa trayectoria del Dr. Horacio Lejarraga al frente de la investigación clinica y epidemiológica sobre crecimiento y desarrollo infantil. Cuenta con la participación de prestigiosos profesionales: pediatras, neurólogos, sociólogos, psicólogos, oftalmólogos, nutricionistas, matemàticós y fonoaudiólogos. Se trata de una obra colectiva de un inestimable valor científico que trasciende el àmbito local - particularmente estimulante dada la escasa bibliografía existente en lengua castellana -, animada por un enfoque holístico y humanista que concibe el desarrollo del nino atendiendo a la totalldad de su contexto, es decir, a los múltiples factores que inciden en su realidad bio-psicosocial. En este sentido, la obra cubre una amplia gama de intereses científicos, tanto desde el punto de vista de la clinica pediàtrica como desde la perspectiva mas amplia de la salud pública. En los primeros capitulos se define lo que se denominan problemas de desarrollo, sua formas de clasificación, el enfoque asistencial en el nivel primario de atención, las redes de intervenciones tempranas y la interacción entro genética y medio ambiente. Una segunda y sustanciosa parte del libro cubre problemas especificas del desarrollo: el retardo madurativo desde el punto de vista neurológíco, el desarrollo de la visión y la audición, la incidencia de la nutrición, entre otros. La tercera parte incluye capitulos de relevancia instrumental, como el manejo matematico de datos de desarrollo, la validación de tests de pesquisa y la legislación actualmente vigente sobre discapacidad. Por último, se abordan temas poco transitados, como el desarrollo del sentido ético en el nino, y la influencia de la historia y la politica en la expresión del amor maternal. Asi, esta obra combina la riqueza conceptual con herramientas para la acción. Ha sido concebida como la consolidación y el fruto de una extensa tarea científica qua sin duda redundarà en beneficios para el vasto campo del desarrollo infantil.


Growth, Maturation and Physical Activity (second edition)
Robert M. Malina, Claude Bouchard, Oded Bar-Or
Human Kinetics, 2005

The second edition of Growth, Maturation, and Physical Activity has been expanded and thoroughly updated, making it the most comprehensive text of the biological growth and maturation of children and adolescents. The new edition retains all the best features of the original, including the helpful outlines at the beginning of each chapter that allow students to review major concepts and assess their understanding of the material. This edition features updates on basic content, expanded and modified chapters, and the latest research findings to meet the needs of upper undergraduate and graduate students as well as researchers and professionals working with children and young adults. The second edition also includes these new features:
• 10 lab activities that encourage students to investigate subject matter outside of class and save teachers time
• A complete reference list at the end of each chapter
• Chapter-ending summaries to make the review process easy for students
• New chapters that provide updates on thermoregulation and secular trends
• Discussions that span current problems in public health, such as the quantification of physical activíry and energy expenditure, persistent undernutrition in developing countries, and the obesity epidemic in developed countries.
The authors are three of the world's foremost authorities on children's growth and development. In 29 chapters, they address introductory concepts and prenatal growth; postnatal growth; functional development; biological maturation; influencing factors in growth and development; and applications to several contexts in public health, clinical medicine, sport, and human biology. Growth, Maturation, and Physical Activity, Second Edition, covers many new topics, including techniques for the assessment of body composition, the latest advances in the study of skeletal muscle, the human genome project, the hormonal regulation of growth and maturation, clarification of dietary reference intakes, and the study of risk for several adult diseases. This is the only text to focus on the biological growth and maturation process of children and adolescents as it relates to physical activity and performance. With over 300 new pages of material, this text expertly builds on the successful first edition.