Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-13
FOOD AND HEALTH
BY WINIFRED STUART GIBBS.
Food Specialist.

No matter what may be the eco
! nomc status OF family. there is a
childfeeding problem. In the case
of one group the problem is largely
one of finding surplus funds and
leisure, and frequently the latter Is
the more pressing. For the busy
mother in such a Woodworking house
| hold is apt to say: The children
must take what we do; | have no time
| to fuss over separate meals for them.
| As for the members of another
| group, those who are comfortably or
! luXuriouSlY off. the difficulty is Of
| quite a different character. Here the
| youngsters are apt to be oVerfed sim
ply through a desire IN the part of
| their mothers not to s. ant their food.
| Again, servants are often in charge
| of the young peoples meals and every
| woman knows how the average SerV-
ant scOrns to modify her individual
notions as 10 what constitutes proper
! food.
so, take it by and large, the chill
| dren sometimes have a pretty hard
time. How shall we analyZe the prob
| lem? How work out a solution?
Beginning with the families in the
! barely adequate group, before plan
ming the children's meals, one should
make a rough estimate of the sum
available for food, taking care that
! the food budget bears the proper re-
! lationship to other items of the budget
as a whole.
The next care should he to asCer-
| tain just what food is necessary for
health. and whether or no it is pos
sible to purchase such food with the
| sum estimated as q rea SOnable food
! budget. Here, of course. is the point
at which skill in planning begins to
| show.
While it is by no means possible
/ to state exactly the minimum sum
at which family may be adequately
| fed, various authorities have worked
| out schedules placing this amount at
! Approximately 80 cents per man per
day, with corresponding variations for
/ the children according to sex and
age. Therefore the mother who must
/ make a limited food allowance just
| do" has a very definite task before
her
Lu,v II. Gillett, an authority on
| the subject. gives such mothers a
general guide for their food expendi-
lures. She advises the following di-
vision of each SO spent for food:
| For bread. cereals rice. etc 500 to 81 90
Vegetables and fruit ...... ! - to %
I Meat. fish and eggs. ......-.. J 20 To 40
StapIes cocoa. sugar. etc. 10 10 80
Such a plan takes care of the chill
dren's needs and provides the most
modest of variations for the sake Of
| the SrOwn-ups' tastes. But the chill
| dren are really fed.
Next come the families that are sub
sistinG at what has been called the
! comfort level" For such as these
the expenditure per man per day is
about 20 10 As cents. Even these fam
/ lilies. with incomes ranging from
s. 800 to s. 1000. may use this plan as
| a starting point. since to know the
! lowest sum for which a family may
he fed is to have a solid foundation
Of information on which To build a
Superstructure showing reasonable
variety. Probably increased variety
Of fruits and vegetables. salads and
slightly more choice desserts will he
the best way of improving the barely
| adequate diet. No luXuries are pos
sible for this group, but generous
variety is easily achieved.
Finally, the luxury group. those
with incomes from $4,000 upward. are
no better able to give their children
adequate food than are the others
They should. however. take pains tC
guard against oVerindulgence in
meats, out-of-season fruits ana the
like, for such practices constitute
sheer waste of both food and health
as well as money.
tCOpyrlght 1920