Abstract
THE investigation of human nutrition dealt with in the report before us 1 was undertaken in the autumn of 1922 during a period of depression for those engaged in the coal mining industry. Details regarding the actual food consumption were obtained from 140 families distributed in five different counties. The general result of the inquiry shows that though the average consumption of food in Derbyshire was sufficient for a healthy life when judged by accepted standards, the average diets in Northumberland, Lancashire, Stirlingshire, and in particular Durham, were not so satisfactory. In the latter county the weight of the miners' children was slightly below the county average, though it seems probable that factors other than a deficient diet may have been partly responsible for this. The Committee is cautious in drawing conclusions, since the number of families investigated was not large, and it was recognised that the method adopted of reducing each family to the equivalent of “average men “for the purpose of assessing the nutritional value of the family diet is not free from objection.
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Problems of Human Nutrition. Nature 114, 332–333 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/114332b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/114332b0