Interim report of the Prison Diets Committee.

Egypt. Wizārat al-Dākhilīyah. Prisons Department. Prison Diets Committee.

Date:: 1917

Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Interim report of the Prison Diets Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

39/78 (page 29)

SR ae It is necessary, before proceeding to estimate the energy requirements for different classes of labour, ‘to establish as a basis the minimum for a man at rest (7.e. a man who is awake but at rest in bed). A number of observations on the point are quoted by Tigerstedt (Nagel’s Handbuch der Physiologie -des Menschen, Vol. I, 1906, page 544), from which it may be concluded that the energy expenditure of a man of average weight under such conditions is 1-4 calories* per kilogramme per hour (mean of the twenty-four hours). _ For a man weighing sixty- -three kilos. (average of prisoners) this would amount to 2,116-8 calories, ‘Taking into consideration the fact that the climate of Egypt makes less demand on the production of heat for the maintenance of the body temperature than would be the case in Europe, and the comparatively _ low protein content of the diet, the resting basis might fairly have been placed below the above figure; it is therefore obviously permissible to adopt 2,150 calories as the basis for a prisoner quite unemployed. There is evidence, as for example in Chittenden’s investigations that the human organism can be habituated to economy in its demands for chemical energy; in view, however, of the fact that an optimum value for the conversion of chemical energy into external work has been adopted, and that there are a number of unknown factors, it would be unsafe to take a lower minimum as the basis of calculation. Diet No. |.—Non-Labour Prisoners. If the energy value of the diet be placed at 2,450 calories, this would give an excess of 300 calories ; assuming that the external work represents one-third} of the energy intake, this would provide for 42,400 kilogramme-metres of work, half of which approximately would represent the one hour’s walking exercise, supposing that the pace was four kilometres an hour. . If, as measured at Tira, the distance travelled is a little over five kilometres, the energy expenditure would be 182 kilogramme-calories, representing 25,277 kilogramme-metres of work, leaving 118 calories representing the energy expended in various other ways during the day. The cleaning of the cells does not represent much work, but if, in addition to the walking exercise, other labour of various kinds has to be performed, the work done would probably exceed the amount upon the basis of which the energy requirements are estimated. Where any work other than walking -exercise is allotted the working prisoners should be exempted from exercise. Diet No. I].—Prisoners on First and Second’ Class Labour. The character of the work is shown in Sub-Appendix I. The nature of the work makes it impossible in most cases.to estimate the absolute amount of work done. An attempt has been made in the case -of weaving. The weaver sits before the loom, moving the machinery by means of foot pedals. He pro- duces twenty metres cloth in the day. To make one metre 536 depressions of the pedals are required. _As measured by the Mamir of the prison the force required to depress the pedal is six kilogrammes. The range of movement is about twenty-five centimetres; the work done with the legs in weaving twenty metres would be :— 536 x 20 x 0-25 x 6 = 16,080 kilometres, equal to 116 calories in energy expenditure. In addition to the movements of the legs some work is done with the arms ; the position of the man also puts a certain strain on other muscles. The figure 16,080 thus represents only a part of the total work. In the blacksmiths’ se the work is in some cases hard for short periods, but is obviously very variable ; the same may be said of the bakery, part of the work involved being the carrying of sacks of grain or flour. Wolpert has estimated indirectly from the respiratory exchanges the amount of work done in certain forms of industrial employment. He obtained the following results for eight hours of work :— 1, Draughtsman ... ... ... «1. «1. ... « 382,000 kilogramme-metres. 2. Mechanic (light weonbien Ped 1es essen: 32,000 * _ 3; .aighte-shoemaking 74ers 0 Se 32938, 000 A at 4, Heavy shoemaking.... 14+ 1.00 11. 44. «6 64,000 - 2 These figures are of interest in connection with certain classes of industrial labour in the prisons. *Siven and Clopart, Skand. Arch. f. Physiol. 1901, Vol. II, page 354. oT: Zuntz quoted from War Office report. Commission on Active Service ration. t Arch. fiir Hygiene, Vol. 26, page 107, 1896. § Making brass screws.