HOME ECONOMICS AND EDUCATION 641 



Among the more scantily nourished peoples of the globe are 

 the poor of India and China. They live largely on rice and other 

 cereals and vegetables, with more or less of pulse and other legumes, 

 and often on quantities which to the ordinary American would seem 

 little more than a starvation diet. 



Although there may be occasional wide variations between two 

 individuals of a given class in respect to the total amounts of food 

 eaten, yet, on the whole, through extended periods, there are not 

 unusually large variations in amounts of protein or energy in the 

 food consumed by different individuals of the same class; that is, 

 under similar conditions as regards work or rest. 



The study of the ordinary diets of the laboring classes in all 

 countries seems to show that whenever possible a diet is secured 

 which will yield something over 3,000 calories of energy and over 

 100 grams of proteids per man per diem. 



The average requirements of a normal individual are affected 

 by a number of factors, of which the most important are sex, age, 

 size of the body, and the amount of muscular work performed. 



Such facts are often disregarded especially the average size of 

 the individuals. For instance, the results of 14 dietary studies 

 with American professional and business men showed that they 

 consumed a diet which supplied 104 grams protein and 3,220 calories 

 of available energy, and with Japanese of similar employment, as 

 shown by 13 studies, 87 grams protein and 2,190 calories of energy. 

 The Americans weighed on an average 150 pounds and the Japanese 

 105. Considering this diet on the basis of 150 pounds body weight 

 the food eaten would supply 121 grams of protein and 3,130 calories 

 of energy. 



Everyone recognizes the fact that hard work means a hearty 

 appetite. Maine lumbermen, while engaged in chopping and yard- 

 ing, ate food supplying 221 grams protein and 8,140 calories per 

 day. When drawing logs they ate 179 grams protein and utilized 

 6,835 calories of energy per day, amounts which are still large as 

 compared with the food of men at less active employment. These 

 men were engaged in very severe out-of-door work in a very cold 

 climate, and the amount of food which they ate is very much greater 

 than is eaten by men of similar size on New England farms or in 

 New England factories, who have been found to eat on an average 

 about 100 grams protein and to utilize about 3,425 calories of 

 energy. 



It has long been known to physiologists that nitrogen-free 

 nutrients are the chief source of the energy expended in muscular 

 work under usual conditions. The lumbermen showed a decided 

 partiality for foods rich in carbohydrates and fat, and the amount 

 of pastry, sirup, sugar, baked beans, and similar materials eaten was 

 unusually large and accounted for the high energy value. The 

 amount of protein supplied by the diet was also high, partly, per- 

 haps, because with the available foods and the previously acquired 



