Poverty and Inequality
1944-10 1944 1940s 29 pages 9 III. — MALNUTRITION. (I) The Standard of a Healthy Diet. It is now a commonplace that a healthy diet must contain a due proportion of what are called the protective foods. Milk, vegetables, eggs and fruit are called protective foods because they are rich in...
| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
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| Language: | English English |
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London : C. W. Publishing Ltd.
October 1944
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/5F9E1840-6BDA-4B6B-B658-0826E57BBA4D http://hdl.handle.net/10796/A14C1FD1-F65E-4A2E-8E90-79E006013988 |
| Summary: | 1944-10
1944
1940s
29 pages
9 III. — MALNUTRITION. (I) The Standard of a Healthy Diet. It is now a commonplace that a healthy diet must contain a due proportion of what are called the protective foods. Milk, vegetables, eggs and fruit are called protective foods because they are rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, without which the body easily falls victim to disease, It is possible to satisfy hunger without eating enough of these substances to maintain health. One can "fill up" with the energy-yielding foods, and as these are very much cheaper, this in fact is what the poor do. Compare the relative cost of the two types of food : (in each case the amount taken is 3,000 calories —the same quantity in terms of human fuel) :* Energy Foods. s. d. Protective Foods. s. d. Sugar 0 4 Milk 2 0 White Bread 0 5 Vegetables 2 2 Margarine 0 5 Meat 2 6 Potatoes 0 5 Eggs 3 7 Factory-made Jam 1 2 Fruit 7 9 Now consider this example of a diet on health standard for two adults and three children ages 7 to 18 years, compiled by the Canadian Medical Association in 1940.* Amount per week. Milk 38 pints. Cheese 1½lb. Butter 3½lbs. Potatoes 19 lbs. Fresh Vegetables 24 lbs. Dried Vegetables 1½lbs. Fresh Fruit 8lbs. Dried Fruit 2lbs. Meat or Fish 8lbs. Eggs 1½doz. Bread 22½lbs. Flours and Cereals 7lbs. Daily cost, 1s. 3½d. a person. Cost of family per week, £2 5s. 10d. (2) The Actual Diet of the Poor. If we compare the standard of a healthy diet with a typical weekly menu recorded by Mr. Rowntree in his survey of York, we find a considerable deficiency. The report on this diet states that there is "a deficiency in first-class protein and calories of 51.2 per cent, and 27.7 per cent, respectively. There is a serious deficiency in mineral salts and of vitamins A and B. After paying rent, 35.8 of the total income is spent on food .... However economically the money was spent, the sum available for food would be inadequate to provide this family with sufficient nourishment."† *From The Nation's Food, by Sir John Orr, Labour Party, 2d. † Poverty and Progress. B. Seebohm Rowntree, page 189.
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |