W. H. SEBRELL 



In the past, the appHcation of our knowledge of nutrition to 

 industry has not received any more attention than we have given to 

 nutrition in our schools. The right of a workman to have an oppor- 

 tunity to obtain an adequate meal at his work received little recognition 

 until, under the stimulus of the necessity for the utmost production in 

 war industries, attention has finally been paid to malnutrition as a 

 factor affecting a man's ability to stay on the job and to do a good job 

 under pressure. In-plant eating facilities vary from none at all (and 

 little or no lunch interval) to the finest type of adequately supervised 

 feeding arrangements with ample time to eat. The benefits both to the 

 management and the worker have been so great that within the past 

 two years a large number of industrial establishments have made 

 great improvements in this respect even under wartime difficulties. 

 It has been estimated that before "Pearl Harbor" less than 20% of 

 our industrial workers had access to any type of in-plant food service. 

 By January, 1944, about 6,500,000 of the 22,000,000 people engaged 

 in war industries were receiving meals through industrial feeding 

 facilities (3). Here again we see a movement toward the goal of an 

 opportunity for an adequate diet for everyone, but with the goal still 

 a long way off. From the scientists' point of view, the mere supplying 

 of food is not the objective, although many think the goal has been 

 achieved when this is attained. The fundamental fact which always 

 should be in the forefront is that the objective is to supply nutritionally 

 adequate food. The mere installation of feeding facilities in schools 

 and industries does not furnish the opportunity the scientist has in 

 mind. The installation must also include supervision by adequately 

 trained dietitians and nutritionists so that the knowledge of nutrition 

 is applied in making every meal furnish a maximum of nutritive value 

 in appetizing form. 



Although these two programs attack important parts of our 

 national problem, there are many other groups for which no wide 

 general provision has yet been made in this country, such as pregnant 

 and lactating women, the preschool child, and the housewife. Recent 

 research has demonstrated the very great importance of adequate 

 nutrition in the prenatal period to the welfare of both mother and 

 infant. The complications of pregnancy and delivery are less and the 

 infant is healthier, grows better, and is more likely to survive if pre- 

 natal nutrition has been adequate. With our future national welfare 



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