Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-06-14
CHILDREN EAT
ACCORDING TO
CHART GUIDES
Proof That Anaemic Children
Fed WeIl-Balanced Meals
Grow Rapidly.
CAUSES OF ILL HEALTH

youngsters may be brought up to nor
NAL health through nothing more dras-
tic than three ell-balanced meals
day, is being demonstrated in novel
way in Brooklyn, where q so-called
School of Eating" has been esta blisned.
Here twenty five little folks are prop
erly fed every day, and the results Of
this feeding-in weight and vitality-are
recorded, at regular intervals, upon q
chart. So far, they have shown eoncIu-
sively that I'll health, in early life at
least is largely a matter of improper
or insufficient diet.
This school, which is known as the
"Children's Restaurant" is one of the
many laudable activities Of the National
League for Women's Service. a war or
ganization, which still finds plenty Of
opportunities for service in peace time.
One of the most pressing of these, It
believes, is the prevention of malnutri-
ton among growing Americans
This nation is contributing generously
to the upkeep of innumerable diet
kitchens in all of the stricken European
countries having congenial governments,
so that the rising generations over there
may not be hopelessly weakened and I'M
fit. This is very gallant and admirable,
but what of our own rising generation2
The National League for Women'a
Service woul have US remember the
shocking disclosures of existing i'll health
in this country revealed by the late
draft. 1t would have US bear in mind
our large infant mortality rate. and con-
slider the many thousands Of under
nourished children brought to light in
our children's clinics. Large numbers of
the last. weakened and diseased by lack
of proper food, will be dependent upon
charity by the time they are grown,
whereas they might be made strong, self
supporting citizens for life if properly
fed.
In order to prove this assertion, ths
league, under the direction of DR.. Carl
Fl. Law, opened its school Of eating last
February a year ago, with twenty-five
registered anemic pupils, selected from
FIVE different public schools. Visiting
nurses in the schools did the choosing,
sending only children who were under
nourished but who were not diseased.
/ This first experiment lasted until Sept /,
of last year, when all of the pupils had
achieved a normal degree Of health.
The second experiment, now under way.
is proving equally successful. Most Of
the charts are again showing a decided
curve toward the red line that indicates
normal health Occasionally a chart ex-
hibits a line suddenly curving down, but
this is always accompanied by some
penciled explanation such as Had tonsils
out"
The depressing odor of charity has been
avoided In this enterprise by charging
.e cents per meal. which does not begin
to paw for the cost of the food and serv-
ice of course but which serves to en-
nance the Importance of the diet in the
eyes of the children's parents The con-
ditions of membership are simple, but ex-
tremely strict Each child must make
solemn pledge not to drink tea or coffee
at home, not to eat between meals, to
wash before eating and to brush his or
her teeth after each meal A weekly bath
is also required, from which there is no
escape II there are no adequate bathing
facilities at home a tub on the school
premises must be used.
The restaurant itself is a large, light.
airy room, with big, immaculate windows.
and a shining blue and white linoleum
floor The delicious appetizing odor which
permeates the atmosphere must be ex-
tremely stimulating to starved appetites.
In the rear of the restaurant is the
somewhat unpopular home of the school
bathtub, to which several children wait
their reluctant turns of admission every
afternoon washstand also occupies an
honored and conspicuous position in the
school office beneath a row of dangling
I tooth
name Of its owner-"Marie," "Pietro,"
jean" Angelo" and 81 others. On lAs
wall near the washstand. also, are the
rows of charts with their sanguine rec
ords.
In this same Office, too, the mothers Of
the neighborhood are frequently as
sembled to listen to words of wisdom
upon the proper upbringing of the child.
The value of everything that is done for
the schools pupils is explained; the i'm
portance of clean bodies and well-caree
for teeth is emphasized, and the visitors
are shown how to extract the utmost
nourishment from a soup bone or a piece
Of cheese. They, themselves, are urged
to bring their children to the school for
Weighing and measuring, and are direct
ed to clinics If need of medical treatment
In short, this Brooklyn school Of eat
ing does, on a small scale, what child
welfare authorities declare, the ideal pub
lie school Of the future must do for the
community. For the tendency of society
to make the public school responsible for
the health of children as well as for their
education, is growing more and more
marked every year. Long ago. the State,
realizing the general incompetence of
parents, claimed the mental training of
the child from the ages of to IA years.
Now 1t is also beginning to claim the
right to supervise the child's health.
Already medical inspection has been
introduced into a large number Of
schools. and has resulted in a number
of much-needed reforms. TUbercular
children have been segregated and placed
In special fresh air classes. while chill
dren discovered to have weak hearts are
also receiving special treatment in many
cases. This same medical inspection.
moreover, has revealed the appalling
amount of malnutrition which exists
among young children, and the wide
spread establishment of school lunches
has been the result.
Europe was the first to realize that
the provision of a hot, nutritious lunch
to school children was as great need
as the provisions of textbooks, and school
lunches were introduced over there as far
back as thirty years ago. In 1898, the
first school lunches were started in this
country in Philadelphia. provoking wide
spread interest and discussion. 1t was
not until 1908 that New York opened
lunch counters in two public schools and
then not on its own initiative, but
through the efforts Of a private organiza-
ton. These Immediately proved so sue
cessful that since then fund of $4,000
has been appropriated to start far
reaching school lunch system, by which
good food well selected and scientifically
prepared, will be served at cost.
Other cities have been equally progress
sive in the matter of school lunches. OF
eighty-six cities of $4,000 or more popu-