Evening star., 1937-10-31

foods that are good for them. Theirs
we're the worst nutritional diseases,
special problem merely touched on but :
not considered by the Astor Committee.
Instead, special conference Of the
Leagues health organization was
called in Java last August to figure out
diet improvements along the line Of
making soya milk from the soya bean,
since improving diets by real milk Is
out Of the question.
THIS might seem gloomy world
picture, but the Astor Committee
| looked it over, and brought in factors
of great hope. Dietary habits are
subject to change, and dietary changes .
show up quickly, for better or for worse.
During the World War when the
nations were saying, Food will win
the war" and that was what food was
used for, the change was for the
worse. A stunted crop of school
children was the result in Berlin and
Leipzig. Berlin children born in 1918
who entered school in 1885 we're Q to
21a inches smaller and 2 to 8 pounds
| lighter than those who entered school ;
in 1888. In Leipzig, the average height
of boys increased by ~ inches, that of
girls AZ inches from 1918 to 1888.
But food habits of the Western
nations are tending to change in the
right direction. The past century has
seen English, German and American
| life spans growing longer, and the
average stature of young Swedes,
Danes, Norwegians and American uni
versity students increasing, as result
of better nutrition and public health.
In Sweden. the average stature of
youths measured for the army in
creased 3 inches between 1840 and
1926; in Denmark, 3 inches between
1840 and 1913; in Norway, inches
between 1900 and 1900; in the Neither
lands, inches between 1850 and 1907.
Nor does it take century to show
change. This Nations food habits.
probably your own included. have
changed greatly since the World War.
Said the Astor Committee:
There remains no doubt that. since
the war, there has been a very large
increase in the consumption of vege-
tables in all Western countries. The
nutritive qualities of this food have
been increasingly recognized. Produc-
ton has tended to become more
specialized, qualities have been stand
ardized, transport facilities improved
and marketing better organized.
These factors with the development Of
particularly early and late-maturing
strains, have contributed much toward
the reduction of seasonal fluctuations
in the consumption of vegetables"
THE Astor Committee called this
change mo accident" and gave
two main reasons for it. One. that the
machine had taken many jobs hitherto
done by strong muscles, hence less
physical craving for energy producing
foods among workers, and more sp-
petite for lighter fruits and vegetables.
The other was the recent nutrition
teaching which has attached such
especial importance TO green leafy
vegetables and citrus fruits that even
school children have learned to call
them protective" foods, along with
milk and eggs.
And that's where dark-haired, dark
eyed. slender Dr. Hazel K. stiebeling
of the Bureau of Home Economics
comes in. Intense" is the adjective
that best describes her. and for that
matter. the whole tribe of true
scientists at work for Uncle Sam. She
had been a food chemistry research
assistant in the Graduate School Oh
Columbia University before she came
to the Department of Agriculture in
July. 1880. Immediately she found
plenty of opportunity to put her lab
oratory learning to practical use
There had been big drought in the
South, and the American Red Cross.
Public Health Service and Department
of Agriculture were collaborating on
the problem. Miss Stiebeling worked
out simple, understandable. practical
leaflet dealing with adequate diets for
families of limited incomes.
Then the depression came on In
earnest. and at its worst the Chill
dren's Bureau wanted Miss Steibiling
to work out diets for impoverished
city children that would cost even
.. less. At the same time, she was
called upon to plan diets for farm
families not especially needy, the
argument being that if the drought
stricken could fare so well on so little,
any farm family could eat we'll If it
planned to produce the right foods in
the proper proportions.
THIS led to one of the most widely
used of Government publications.
Diets at Four Levels of Nutritive
Content and Cost" done by Miss
Stiebeling in collaboration with Miss
Medora Ward The most restricted
diet outlined therein, and definitely
labelled as for emergency use only.
was as good in nutritive value as half
the population now lives on. The
three other diet plans all give an
adequate margin of safety. but at
different cost levels The least ex-
pensive was perfectly adequate for
any eater: it Just didn't have expensive
meats, succulent fruits, and things out
of season.
Next contribution OF Miss Stiebeling
| "ps' h'Nbo hbnPpth w hl1lticilb LNpto
of farming. She planned eating for
farm families on whose acres truck
crops were plentiful and meat scarce.
She planned them for families out on
the range, where vegetables were few
and hard to raise and meat plentiful.
She saw her plans put to use in a
remarkable manner. When the Re-
settlement Administration was moving
families onto new farms, those diet
plans were an integral part Of the
process, reduced to writing in prepared
forms, like making out a family
budget. Either the farm had to be
big enough to grow the essential foods
for the family-and such foods were
listed according to standard plan.
with allowance for family likes and
dislikes-or 1t had to produce enough
cash to buy these foods in addition to