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12
" The addition of a pint of milk daily helps to make up for the
shortcomings of other foods with comparatively little trouble.
"All the children in our schools who are receiving free milk on
medical grounds are weighed monthly. This regular weighing
helps to impress upon the child the close connection between growth
and suitable food.
" Other articles of diet which the children are encouraged to eat
freely are green vegetables and raw vegetables such as tomatoes
and grated raw carrots. Many children who are difficult about
green vegetables will, we find, eat raw carrots with the greatest
relish.
" During Michaelmas term, 1934, at the suggestion of Dr. Magee,
of the Ministry of Health, a dynamometer was provided by the
Education Committee and installed at William Elliott
Whittingham Boys' School.
" The dynamometer is an instrument which measures the strength
of one's muscular pull in pounds, and it is hoped that by its use
in the schools one may be able to ascertain the relationship between
the efficiency of the voluntary muscles and the nutritional state of
the school children.
" The procedure recommended by Dr. Magee and carried out by
us is as follows:—
" ' The children are weighed and measured in their stockinged
feet and without their coats, and weights are recorded in pounds.
Each child is allowed three pulls and the maximum pull recorded.
" ' No child who has recently had diphtheria or who has heart
disease or hernia is allowed to use the instrument, as the test
imposes a severe momentary strain on the child's whole body.
" ' For the purposes of this report I have selected the results
of the tests on 80 boys from two of our Senior Boys' Schools,
William Elliott Whittingham Boys' and William McGuffie Boys'
(40 boys from each school). These are divided into two age groups,
boys of 12 and boys of 13. I have taken the average of the three
pulls in each case and divided this by the boy's weight.
William Elliott Whittingham.
Age group 12—Average pull, 145 lbs; average weight,
79.8 lbs.; ratio pull in lbs./weight in lbs., 1.8.
Age group 13—Average pull, 180 lbs.; average weight,
91.3 lbs.; ratio, 1.9.