596

Bathrobics for Pregnancy - For health and vitality during and after pregnancy by Jane Dorey MCSP. Bathrobics Publi- cations, Aqua fitness Lfd, La Tour Grand House, Lower Pollet, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 5SS, 1995 (ISBN 0 957957 7 7 7). Illus. 32 pages and exercise charts. f 11.99.

This ingenious publication is written for pregnant women and sets out to help them take care of their bodies during pregnancy. It takes the form of an A5 plasticised flip chart with a rubber suction pad which will attach to the edge of the bath. The first section is a handook printed on standard paper and is easily removable from the rest of the book. It deals with questions women may have about their changing body and the way it will respond to and cope with exercise. There are further subdivisions as follows: 0 General exercise guidelines 0 How your body changes 0 Backcare 0 Posture and lifting 0 Post-natal back care 0 Pelvic floor exercises 0 Exercising your abdominal

muscles 0 Stretching 0 Relaxation and breathing

exercises 0 Diet and exercise 0 Common complaints during

0 Precautions for bathrobics pregnancy

The handbook is of necessity

An illustration of one of the plastic flip charts -Exercise 12: Pelvic floor

fairly superficial in parts but the section on the pelvic floor was good with specific exercises for all the functions of the pelvic floor. Relax- ation and breathing exercises again is fairly light and disappointingly refers the reader t o another book with no mention of the role of parentcraft classes. Advice given is clear, relevant and easy to follow, the only small niggle being the use of the words ‘loo’ for toilet and ‘tum’ for tummy. The precautions given prior to exercising are comprehen- sive and should ensure the routine is carried out safely.

The second part of the book forms the flip chart. Each page is plastic with a pink and a blue side and each side contains one exercise which is

clearly explained with a diagram. The purpose of each exercise is also stated, together with the number of times it should be performed. There are eight exercises on the pink side of the pages which can be performed in the bathroom while waiting for the bath to fill. On the blue side of the pages are eight exercises which can be done in the bath. There are a mixture of aerobic, stretching and strengthening exercises which are easy to do and will maintain a level of fitness.

The book is attractively produced, reasonably priced and could be recommended to most mothers who wish t o stay fit during their preg- nancy.

Linda Tranter MCSP

Health and Fitness through Physical Education edited by Russell R Pate PhD and Richard C Holm EdD. Human Kinetics (Europe), PO Box 1 W14, Leeds LS16 6TR, 1994 (ISBN 0 87322 490 6). 225pages. f23.50.

This book is a compilation of work by a number of professionals in the education field. It examines the role of health related fitness in the current physical education curriculum and discusses how life- time fitness can be taught a t this level. The whole book is based on the proposition that appropriately designed and delivered school-based education can encourage adoption of a physically active lifestyle into adulthood.

I t is divided into three main sections, each with a number of chapters. The first looks at the foun- dations of health related physical

education which includes an inter- esting epidemiological study into the relationship between activity levels and various mortality rates for cardiovascular disease, etc. Note, though, that all figures are taken from population studies in the USA and not the UK. I t also discusses the biological, sociological and psychological factors which determine activity levels in child- ren. Similarly, the factors affecting cognitive learning are covered.

The second and largest section describes how to introduce fitness principles into a curriculum and how to modify principles for diff- erent children. There are chapters on exercise for children with special needs and for low fit or ‘super- active’ children. The principles of teaching methods are then covered.

The final section gives examples

of different styles of physical educ- ation programmes and how to implement them.

Generally the book is well written with clear schematic diagrams and tables. However, it is aimed at the teaching profession as opposed to health professionals. Because of this I feel that it might appeal only to physiotherapists with a very specific interest in this area.

It might prove useful to anyone in postgraduate studies for additional reading into the sociological areas of health issues or the problems asso- ciated with adolescent activity- related orthopaedic syndromes. On the whole it would be a useful reference in a hospitalhniversity library as opposed to an individ- ual or departmental purchase.

Nicola Phillips MCSP

Physiotherapy, October 1996, vol82, no 10