THE FOOD CONSUMPTION OF RURAL SCHOOL 

 CHILDREN IN RELATION TO THEIR HEALTH 



By Esther S. Davies' 

 In Charge of Home Economics Research 



PART I. PURPOSE AND METHOD OF INVESTIGATION 



The investigation wiiicii is the subject of this report had as its objective 

 the portrayal of the food habits and dietary history of white children in the 

 elementary schools of selected rural Massachusetts towns; the correlation with 

 their food records of their physical status as shown by dental and medical 

 examinations; and the determination, if possible, of the ways in which the pre- 

 vailing food habits of these children affect their health. 



Method of Study 



The survey was conducted by means of visits to the homes, questionnaires 

 filled out by the pupils in the schools, examinations of the teeth i)y a dental 

 hygienist, and medical examinations given by the staff" of the children's clinic 

 of the Division of Tuberculosis of the State Department of Health. The med- 

 ical examinations were made possible through the courtesy and the co-opera- 

 tion of Dr. Henry D. Chadwick, acting director of the Division. Copies of the 

 blanks used in the survey will be found in the Appendix. 



Choice of Towns for Field Work 



The localities chosen for the field work were selected on the basis of being 

 (1) towns of 1,000 to 1,500 inhabitants, with as large proportions of native 

 white stock as cotild be found; (2) not in close proximity to any large urban 

 center; (3) places where the superintendent of schools was willing to give the 

 field workers free access to all schools; (4) communities where, for at least 

 two years, the children's clinic had not l>een held; and (-5) towns whose select- 

 men were willing to request the holding of the clinic. 



Through correspondence with tlie home demonstration agents of the various 

 counties, a list of towns apparently meeting the first three of the above re- 

 quirements was secured, and through consultation with the chief of the clinic 

 regarding (4) and (5) the choice was narrowed down still further; finally 

 after personal visits to several towns. Carver in Plymouth County and South- 

 wick in Hampden County were selected. 



Carver 



The town of Carver is west of Plymouth, approximately 10 miles inland 

 from the ocean. Its population, according to the state census of 1925, is 1,306, 

 the principal racial groups being native whites, Finns, French Canadians, and 

 the so-called "black" Portuguese. The town is known for its cranberries and 

 most of the inhabitants gain a fairly comfortable living from the bogs. 



' The author wishes to acknowledge the help of Mary S. Rose, Professor of Nutri- 

 tion, Columbia University, in the determination of scores for evaluating diets, and her 

 kindness in reading and criticizing the manuscript of the report. To Helen Knowlton, 

 :5f the Department of Rural Home Life, Massachusetts Agricultural College, credit is 

 due for many suggestions regarding the schedules used in the survey of food practices. 



