SOCIAL ASPECTS OF NUTRITION 



at stake, is not every infant entitled to the opportunity to obtain a diet 

 adequate for its growth and normal development? No national 

 program with such an aim exists in this country today. In some coun- 

 tries adequate infant feeding formulas are prepared, bottled, and 

 distributed under public supervision to infants in low-income families. 

 We are woefully behind in our application of the knowledge of nutri- 

 tion our scientists have supplied. We have hardly begun to create 

 the opportunity for our people to obtain adequate nutrition. 



The other great cause of malnutrition in the United States, in 

 addition to the general dearth of opportunity to obtain nutritionally 

 adequate food, is the lack of knowledge of the need for, and what con- 

 stitutes, good nutrition, as reflected in bad food habits, poor food 

 preparation, and general ignorance and indifference about the types 

 of food necessary for good nutrition. The practical aspects of our 

 scientific knowledge of nutrition should be conveyed to everyone in 

 some manner other than through advertising or the educational ma- 

 terial supplied for the purpose of promoting the use of some particular 

 food or medicine. Nutrition education should be a part of the cur- 

 riculum of every school. Clear, understandable, correct, and un- 

 biased information should be available to every family. A start has 

 been made in this field also, but it is only a start; although it has been 

 going on for many years, it still has reached and affected only selected 

 groups of people. There is a wealth of literature available to those 

 who know how to obtain it and with enough education to read and 

 understand it. Agricultural agencies and health departments have 

 been especially active in this field. Under the war stimulus thousands 

 of women have attended Red Cross courses in nutrition; nutrition 

 committees and other organizations interested in nutrition have 

 reached many more thousands with educational material. 



However, much more is needed; for literature is only part of 

 the answer. Demonstrations, cooking schools, exhibits, radio and 

 newspapers, moving pictures, and every other educational medium 

 should be used to the fullest extent. Lunch rooms in schools and 

 industrial establishments should be used, not only for feeding, but also 

 for practical education in good nutrition. Studies have demonstrated 

 that educational efforts here pay immediate dividends in influencing 

 food selection. The weakest point in nutrition education is that it 

 has not been given at the point of application, namely, the grocery 



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