

RESEARCH AREAS IN GERONTOLOGY 

 NUTRITION THAT ARE NOW NEGLECTED 



C. M. McCay, Ph.D. 



Department of Nutrition, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 



The subject chosen for discussion today recalls an experi- 

 ence of ten years ago. Our community in rural New York 

 State serves as host each summer to more than a hundred 

 children from the slums of New York City. For five years, 

 we had as our guests a starved, backward boy and his younger 

 sister. When this boy was about twelve years old, I dis- 

 covered he could not tell time nor read well. I started him 

 reading a story book and suggested that during the afternoon 

 he should underline every word he did not understand so 

 that I could explain the words on the following morning. 

 Much to my surprise, the next morning I found that with the 

 exception of "the", "a", and "is" all words had been carefully 

 underlined. 



After labouring since 1927 in this area that attempts to 

 relate the food eaten to conditions observed in the body 

 during the latter half of the life-span, it has become clearer 

 each year that most of the words in this field must be under- 

 lined as unknown. Perhaps, this is merely the ever growing 

 pessimism of an ageing person. 



In considering research areas for profitable study in relating 

 nutrition to ageing it may be worth considering first the 

 species of animal life that can be studied most profitably and 

 secondly the disciplines of a scientist that seem most suited 

 for the attack. 



Unfortunately, those of us who were transformed painfully 

 into biochemists just prior to World War I through the 

 channels of classical chemistry, physics and mathematics 

 were left with substantial prejudices if not contempt for such 



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