136 



MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 241 



Table 26. Condition of Four First Pennanent Molars and Diet Scores, of 



61 Southwick Children of Native and Mixed Parentage 



from 8 to 17 Years of Age 



the findings for the Carver and Southwick groups as a whole. Milk, as has 

 been shown, is the outstanding food in which the Southwick scores excel those 

 of Carver, the difference being fuily as striking as that between the condi- 

 tion of the four first pennanent molars of the children in the two towns. 



Southwick has been a dairy town for many years> so that with its stable 

 native population these present children of native parentage are, certainly 

 so far as their teeth are concerned, reaping the benefits of their mother's use 

 of an ample amount of milk. Carver, on the contrary, has not had an abund- 

 ant milk supply, and its children have not had the advantages deriving from 

 a general consumption of milk by the motliers during pregnancy. 



PART IV. SUMMARY 



In this field study of the elementary school children of the two rural Massa- 

 chusetts towns of Carver and Southwick, carried out through visits to the 

 homes and by means of dental and medical examinations, the following points 

 are of special interest: 



1. It is not possible to obtain liy the survey method reliable data upon 

 the food habits and practices of previous years. Regarding current prac- 

 tices, information can be secured which is sufficiently trustworthy to give a 

 fair picture of tlie present situation, provided the inherent inaccuracies are 

 recognized as a determining factor in the choice of statistical methods of 

 interpretation. 



2. The diets of the children of Carver and Southwick were judged by a 

 standard having an optimum score of 100, in which 24 points were allowed 

 for milk, 23 for cooked vegetal)les, 21 for fruit and raw vegetables, 14 for 

 whole grain cereal foods, and 18 for meat and eggs. Graded on this basis, 

 only 15 per cent of the children of Carver and 24 per cent of those of South- 

 wick can be considered to bave diets suited to their needs. 



3. The best point in the Carver diets is the amount of fruit and vege- 

 taliles. The poorest feature qualitatively is the inordinate amount of sweet 

 foods such as cake, doughnuts, and pie. 



Southwick's diets have milk as their great safeguard. Vegetables are not 

 used nearly as often nor in as much variety as should be the case. For both 

 towns the an:ounts of whole grain cereal foods are meager. 



