Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1930-01-23
HINTS ON HEALTH
prepared and Furnished by the
Public Health Education
Committee of Minnesota
State Medical ASSN.


the slender form shall not be the pop
ular physical figure among women,
physicians are being asked and health
authorities requested to furnish in
formation as how to gain weight.
While it is relatively uncommon
a physician as to how to gain weight,
there are many who should give some
attention to this question:" declares
the bulletin issued by the State Med
ical Society today. The bulletin de-
clares that starvation eating among
young people in their teens has been
detrimental to health and advocates
more consistent view of the prob
lem,
eff an individual desires to gain
weight there are perhaps, three ways
to approach the problem" declaresi
amount of food eaten. This will lead
to a gain in weight if the weight was
stationary before, since any excess
| food beyond that necessary for the
| work of the day, will be stored as fat
| in the body. A second method is to de-
crease the amount of exercise and,
| therefore, decrease the need for fuel.
| This is seldom to be recommend be-
cause it is rare individual in mod
ern civilized communities who gets
too much exercise The third method
| is not applicable to all persons but it
| ho in iC tn
crease the digestion of our foods. Not
all of the food which anyone swallows
| is absorbed into the body and really
used. Part of it is lost because it is
of an indigestible nature. This may
seem wasteful but it is necessary
that the human stomach and intestines
have some soft indigestible material
which will make it possible for them
| to move along the waste matter and
allow a proper discharge of the stool
from the body. Also a great many in
dividuals fail to get the maximum
eat because they do not chew the ma
terial thoroughly enough to give the
digestive organs fair chance. A
great many people in the hurry OF
modern life do not take sufficient
time with their meals or eat under
pronounced interference with the ac-
ton of the digestive organs. A lack
of sleep or undue worry and hurry as
well as many other forms of dis
turbed nervous life, are responsible
for this poor economy in eating.
consequently, the first approach
to the question, ''hOw shall l gain
weight" is to get an impartial view
on the whole manner of living. Here
the family physician is an invaluable
aid. In obstinate cases it may be
necessary to conduct rather careful
laboratory studies to find out wheth-
er the individual is really using his
food to the greatest advantage. If the
method adopted is to increase the in
take of food few practical points
must be considered. One can gain
j weight by increasing the amount Of
any food worth eating. 1t is phySi-
cally impractical to do this with those
foods which are very soft and juicy
such as the green vegetables or the
fruits. The reason is that these ma
terials contain so much water in
proportion to the foods which yield
energy. Therefore, the foods which
are most efficient in bringing about
q gain of weight are the concentrated
foods such as potatoes, bread, turnips,
baked beans, squash, fruits, such as
bananas and apples, and the fats of
which butter, cream, bacon and
salad oils are all very use
full examples. The yolk of the egg
contains large amounts of fat, and
and fat cuts of meat make very
appetizing additions to such a diet
In making the attempt to gain weight
no one must omit the ordinary re-
quisites in the diet such as moderate
amounts of meat and milk, the green
vegetables and some fruits in the
diet for every day.