This is an excellent and easy-to-use resource in the practical form of a handbook written for the clinician and other healthcare professionals who treat and counsel pregnant women and women of child-bearing age. The authors provide historical perspective and background to support recommendations which are provided in each chapter. Importantly for the practitioners, recommendations and guidelines have been summarized and provided in tables that are easy to locate and interpret. This book discusses relevant topics in the scientific community such as determining to what extent prenatal and perinatal environmental factors are linked to childhood and adult obesity and chronic diseases. It also examines issues that are common to both the developed and the developing worlds and includes chapters that are specific to nutritional and reproductive factors seen mainly in developing countries.