The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1921-04-22
MORE milk IS THE need
THE CAMPAIGN WILL HELP
LITTLE CHILDREN
Observation-Disclosures In Growing
Youngsters Told In Scrap
Book of Specialist

10 eliminate undernourishment OF
growing children is told in the scrap
hook of a milk specialist from the
United States department of Agricul-
tTe who has cooperated during the
past two years in more than forty
milk campaigns held in cities and
rural districts throughout the United
States. ALI Of these campaigns have
been held in the interest of better
health for children, and in every
case where milk campaign has been
put on there has been an increase
in the consumption of milk, which
has amounted to as much as 80 per
cent in some cities. What this means
to the health of the country is hard
to measure. for milk campaigns put
on in one city have resulted in more
campaigns in neighboring cities and
rural districts, and the milk week
on the food value of milk.
Movement Spreads Rapidly
The milk campaign week was
started in Connecticut In 1918, when
six cities, the first of which were
Hartford and New Haven, organized
to combat undernourishment among
their school children. The move
ment spread to Rhode Island, where
Newport took up the work, and this
cession by campaigns in four New
Jersey cities. Boston then went
step further, and put on a twelve
months campaign. Among other
cities, which have taken up the work
are Detroit, Pittsburgh, Kansas City,
Topeka, Davenport, Iowa City, Akron
Spokane, Seattle, and Madison. Other
cities have planned campaigns; and
Iowa and Kansas put on statewide
campaign Tor two years, with splen-
did results.
Shows Necessity for MIX
What is behind this great interest
in milk? Undernourishment. There
are many children that are under
weight and undernourished. A sur
yey of 10000 Chicago school children
showed that 40 per cent were seven
per cent underweight, and the IN
vestigators were surprised to find
Iaat OF cen those ers undtsr r, 81 per
homes in the residential section, and
only 1872 per cent were from the
stockyards district. "This fact" says
the milk utilization specialist, "dem-
onstrates the necessity for teaching
more about the value of foods. for
the fault here was not poverty but
ignorance of the necessity Of certain
foods for growing children"
A survey conducted in New York
showed that from 1914 to 1917 the
percentage Of undernourishtd had in
creased from 5 to 81 per cent, and
had accompanied a decrease of Is
per cent in milk consumption.
Undernourishment is not confined
to the cities. In one of the counties
In the richest agricultural section of,
Kansas it was found that of 639
children in thirty school districts,
l4o were at least 10 per cent under
weight. and only AZ per cent of them
used nilk every day. Also, in three
townships in Iowa 81 per cent of the
children were underweight
Conditions Must Be Right
From figures like these a CITY
may gauge the necessity of a milk
campaign, says the milk specialist.
A campaign is never conducted by
the Dairy Division Of the United
States Department Of Agriculture un-
less there is local feeling that It
Is needed. 1t is then made certain
that the milk is pure and wholesome
that the supply is adequate. and the
price reasonable to the producer, tho
distributor and the consumer. In
such campaigns the Dairy Division
cooperates always with the State
agricultural college and the college
gets the. cooperation of the local
agencies"
1.-TWO important reasons for under
nourishment of children are poverty
and lack of understanding of the
nourishing properties of certain foods
What milk campaigns do to teach
the value OF milk for the growing
child is that much added to the gen
eral progress Of child welfare"
Value OF Milk In the Diet
The value of milk in the diet hos
been shown very strikingly in the
milk feeding demonstrations carried
on In the schools. In Kansas Civ,
for instance, a survey in certain
school district fh Nav 1919. disclosed
that 81 per cent, of the children were
undernourished. Thew were given
school lunch of milk and graham
crackers, end nv September. the nor
ceptage Of undernutritinn had fallen
to 25 ner cent The following March
onlv 81 per cent were below weight.
and 1t was expected that all world
be bronpht I'D to normal In a short
time. Similar results have been OBJ
tanned in other cities.
The value of milk for older child
rem and grown-ups Is brought ont in
a tribute tn milk from the rresidrrtt
of woman's college in the South:
s'For 81 years we have never had a
death of boarding school student.
We have our own herd of dairv cows.
What milk we cannot use, we soil
We went through the flu erddenics
safeIv by kaepipg the dnrnnito~;as
heated evenly, and then feeding
milk"