19 



was servxd, though in some instances a number of such determinations 

 were made for the same food, and average values used. 



All data regarding percentage composition of raw food materials 

 were taken from a previous publication « of this Office giving average 

 values for American food materials. The composition of each cooked 

 food as computed according to the method described above is given in 

 Table 37, and the data by which the computations were made in Table 

 38 of the Appendix. By use of these data and the statistics regarding 

 the quantities of food consumed the amounts of each nutrient in the 

 different kinds of food used were computed. 



It is the usual custom to express the results of dietary studies in 

 terms of nutrients and energy per man per day. During each study 

 an accurate account was kept of the total number of persons served at 

 each meal, and from these records the equivalent number of men for 

 one day was calculated. In the studies in which both men and women 

 were included the number of meals taken by women were computed 

 to the equivalent number per men by assuming that one meal for a 

 woman is equivalent to 0.8 meal for a man. 



Dividing the total ({uantity of each nutrient consumed in each study 

 by the number of days for one man computed as just explained gives 

 the equivalent amount of the nutrient for one man for one day. The 

 fuel value of the diet, that is, the amount of available energy it would 

 furnish, was computed from the quantities of nutrients per man per 

 day on the assumption that each gram of protein and carbohydrates 

 would furnish 4 calories and each gram of fat 8.9 calories.* 



The details of the dietary studies follow. 



DIETARY STUDY NO. 364— CHRONIC MALE PATIENTS. 



This study was made with about 550 male patients, who were nearly 

 all chronic, mostly from middle life to old age, and appeared to be 

 fairly quiet and orderly. Many of them were veterans of the civil 

 war. The larger number of these patients were fed in one dining- 

 room; but in addition to these the study also included about 35 patients 

 of a similar class, who were crippled or lame to such an extent that 

 they could not climb the flight of steps to the larger dining room, and 

 were therefore fed apart in a section known as " Home ward,'' though 

 they received the same diet as the others. 



The majority of the men in this study did no work and appeared to 

 tike very little exercise. However, 120 were classed as workers, 

 though only a part of these did anything except very light work, many 

 of them being employed a few hours each day in the wards or 

 dining room. 



The study began with breakfast, Tuesday, September 30, 1902, after 



«U. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations Bui. 28, revised. 

 ^See Connecticut Storrs Station Rpt. 1899, p. 104. 



