An Invitation to Health

Hales, a freelance journalist who specializes in health, shows undergraduate students how to take charge of their health and understand topics from nutrition to stress management to addictions. This edition has new information on relationships in emerging adulthood, dangerous trends like distracted driving and cyberbullying, online relationships, hooking up, and protecting oneself and one's privacy, as well as a new chapter on the impact of digital communications and social networking on physical and psychological health. It has new features comparing students' habits, health in the headlines (with links to the website), self-assessment and creating a healthier future, and making change happen. Chapters have been reorganized and discuss nutrition (including new federal dietary guidelines) and weight management before fitness, and the chapter on sexually transmitted infections has been moved to the section on sexual responsibility. It also includes coverage of new campus health risks such as hookah smoking, the combination of binge drinking and disordered drinking, and the drugs known as "bath salts." Other new topics include the teenage and 20-something brain, autism spectrum disorders, caffeinated alcoholic beverages, and insulin resistance and prediabetes. All chapters have been updated with current research. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)