FOOD OF RURAL CHILDREN 



115 



Table 10. Distribution of Scores 

 for Whole Grain Cereal Foods 



♦Scored on the basis of 14 points for whole grain foods (bread or cereal) twice a day; 

 smaller amounts in direct proportion. 



Egg and Meat Scores 



In scoring the amount of eggs and meat in each diet, the amount of milk 

 in that diet was taken into consideration, in order that too much or too little 

 allowance be not given to protein-rich foods. For example, if a child had a 

 full quart of milk daily and also meat once a day, 9 points was the maximum 

 iiJlowed for eggs, even if eggs were reported for more than three times a 

 week. On the other hand, if the child had only one pint of milk a day and 

 meat once a day, 3 points were allowed for each egg in the diet up to seven 

 a week. Nothing was allowed for meat more than once a day, and for an 

 excessive amount of meat there was a deduction, varjing from 1 to 5 points 

 according to the frequency' of meat in excess of once a day. 



The possible score for eggs and meat together, therefore, runs up to a 

 maximum of 30 for a diet containing one €:^^ a day and meat once a day, 

 provided the milk of that diet did not exceed one pint a day. 



Even with this broad interpretation and the liberal allowances for eggs 

 and meat, the scores given in Table 11 and shown in Chart 5 are not high 

 for either town. Very few deductions were made for meat more than once 

 a day. In Carver, among the 51 native families, only 5 families (including 

 10 children) reported meat more than once a day; and but 3 foreign families, 

 with 9 children, used meat more than once daily. In Southwick, no foreign 

 family and only one native family (2 children) had in the diet scores 

 any deduction for meat in excess of once a day. The scores of Table 11, 

 therefore, in almost all cases represent the frequency with which meat and 

 eggs appear in the diet. 



The egg and meat scores of the Southwick diets are higher than those of 

 Carver. This is chiefly on account of the greater number of eggs reported 

 in Southwick. It is believed that the diiTerence is in large measure caused 

 by the time of year of taking the records. Most of the Carver families were 

 visited in March; the Southwick families in May. Owing to the natural 

 tendency on the part of the housewives to repoJrt what was true at the time 

 of the interview rather than an estimate of the usual or most common prac- 



