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83
PROVISION OF MEALS.
As in former years, free meals and milk continue to
supplied at eight centres to school children in Acton who haveLed
certified as suffering from malnutrition, or to be medically
ounctxi of more nourishment than can be supplied to them by their
pjrnts.
The subject of nutrition is a very wide one, and no really
p6*factory definition can be given of the term " malnutrition."
£jn«; authorities confine the term to conditions caused by lack o£
f&tcctive food substances, e.g., Scurvy, and describe as " undernourishment
" conditions caused by insufficient bulk of food.
(j|*»ically, a state of malnutrition is assessed by general appearance,
ot tone in muscles and skin, lack of lustre in eyes and hairr
pvt carriage and bearing, and some degree of anaemia. Height
art! weight also have a bearing on the question, and liability toThis state of malnutrition may not be due entirely to lack
4 p<>d. Lack of proper food, insufficient sleep, and poor environ►wj^-may
be contributory causes. It is difficult to assess how much
\$. duo to the food question, without a complete knowledge of home
canltions, overcrowding and poverty, etc., and without a knowof
past history with regard to personal illnesses.
Taking all these things into consideration however, experiwais
have been conducted in many parts of the country, and in
main the evidence forthcoming supports the contention that
flAlnutrition is very largely a question of food. Where the family
Wvojtne per head is low, too much food of a purely filling nature
ttuklulged in, and good first-class proteins, fats and vitamins are
Wtking. Where expenditure is not so limited there is correspondif^df
less evidence of malnutrition. To a certain extent, ignorance
HK>i Unwise and uneconomic budgeting by the poor housewife.
Recently, in the Borough of Heston & Isleworth, some
•'search was done into diets available to the poorer sections of the
^f^iwinity, and it was commented there that "particularly in the
homes, the principal method of cooking was frying'' and
■^ofVind sausages were favourite dishes, expensive dishes extravacooked.
Many mothers would not be bothered to do very
9l»W stewing of the cheaper cuts of meat. Money which could ill
^ Spired was being thus spent unwisely, and there was corresF^fcl'iigly
less to spend on protective food substances.