Summary of lectures given at the Cambridge Summer School, 5th-19th July, 1947 / the Women Public Health Officers' Association.

Date:
[1947?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Summary of lectures given at the Cambridge Summer School, 5th-19th July, 1947 / the Women Public Health Officers' Association. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    A school was selected where the children were having a very indifferent midday meal. A group of children were given in place of this indifferent meal, a well-balanced ‘‘Health Dinner’’, based on the Oslo breakfast . The meal was devised to supply the protective factors, in which the diet of the poor child was likely to be deficient. The two groups of children, namely the children on the ‘‘Health Dinner’’ and the children on the indifferent meal, were compared over a period of several months. The children were weighed and measured weekly, and had regular medical examinations. By comparison with the control group the children on the ‘‘Health Dinner’’ showed :-— a. <A greater gain in height and weight. b. An absence of minor ailments and healthier skin. c. A rise in the haemoglobin level of the blood. d. In many cases an improvement in school work. The teachers also reported these children were full of vitality. In planning meals for school children it should be borne in mind that they are growing rapidly, and therefore, they have a great need for protein and calcium. Meals must be highly protective to ensure proper development, and good bodily resistance to disease. School children are usually very active for their size, and therefore have a rela- tively greater need for calories than an adult. The capacity of their stomachs is limited, so meals should not be too bulky. In planning school dinners it is important to remember that filling and feeding are too very different things. Well balanced meals are ones which contain, in the right proportion, all the food factors needed for good health. In dealing with the subject of the planning of school meals it is perhaps simplest to deal with the subject under three headings, energy giving foods, body building foods, and protective foods. Energy Giving Foods It should be remembered that adolescents have a very high calorie requirement, and should be given the opportunity of having extra help- ings of unrationed energy foods. The maxim ‘‘choose your calories for the company they keep’’ is especially applicable in the case of the school child. Energy foods which are most valuable are those which provide in addition to energy other nutritive factors as well. An increase of sugar is not desirable, as it is one hundred per cent carbohydrate and provides nothing in addi- tion to energy. It is important that children should be taught to like brown bread and brown flour rather than white. Body Building Foods. In the case of body building foods, full use should be made of animal proteins. Special emphasis should be laid on milk and cheese, because these foods, in addition to providing protein of high biological value, are also an excellent source of calcium. Dried milk and dried eggs, from a body building standpoint are excellent foods. Dried milk can be incorporated, in a dry state, into puddings and mashed potatoes. Dried egg should not be left standing after it has been reconstituted. With reference to the vegetable proteins, soya flour is one of the best.
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