Obesity

With obesity skyrocketing in the U.S. among young people as well as adults, this addition to the Compact Research: Current Issues series will attract teens driven by both research assignments and personal interest. The browsable text is packed with snippets of up-to-date facts; clear, full-color diagrams; and quotes from a wide range of authorities, who discuss health consequences, treatment, prevention, and causes, including the degree to which genetics, social class, and personal choices influence body weight. Full back matter, including citations for the abundant quotes and an annotated list of key people and advocacy groups, provides sturdy support for this timely overview. This provides a nice, research-based backbone to accompany such titles as Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal (2001) and Scott Ingram’s Want Fries with That? (2005). — Hazel Rochman

The strongest element of this series, which currently includes sixteen titles such as Genetic Engineering, Media Violence, Conflict in the Middle East, and Animal Experimentation, is the amount and quality of documentation and further resources provided. Source notes are provided for every quote and statistic within the narrative chapters. The back material includes a chronology, a list of key people and advocacy groups, a list of related organizations, and a bibliography of books, periodicals, and Internet sources, none of which are more than five years old. The obesity volume covers causes, prevention and treatment, as well as the question of whether obesity is a matter of personal responsibility. Genetic Engineering covers the safety of genetically engineered food, the safety of genetic engineering in humans (including the use of stem cells and genetic screening), and the issues surrounding cloning. This series is recommended for students not yet ready to tackle the Opposing Viewpoints or Current Controversies series, as well as those who respond to visual interpretations of the facts.

This series’ stated goal is to present topics in a highly organized, compact fashion that will help students overwhelmed with the amount of information available on current issues to easily identify the content they need. The emphasis is on convenience and readability. Each author breaks down an issue into four subtopics, and covers each subtopic in three formats: a narrative Overview, Primary Source Quotes, and Facts and Illustrations (four or five pages of colorful charts). The narratives introducing each subtopic are objective, clear, thorough, and present all sides of the issues. The Primary Source Quotes comprise one or two sentences from an authority on the subject. They are well chosen to highlight conflicting opinions, but apart from identifying the speaker or writer, they are not placed in context. The Facts and Illustrations content supports the material presented in the overview, but the charts can be confusing, and younger students will require assistance interpreting them.