SUPPLEMENTARY MID-MORNING FEEDING 

 OF RURAL SCHOOL CHILDREN 



By Bernice W'ait, in charge of Home Economics Research, Oreana Mcrriam 

 and MadaUne V. Cowing, Laboratory Assistants' 



Supplementary mid-morning school feeding was first used to provide extra 

 food for children who were obviously much underfed. While some children 

 did not seem to respond to such feedings, the results on the whole, as indicated 

 by an initial increase in weight, were sufficiently gratifying so that by 1920 

 mid-morning milk was quite generally recommended as helpful, if not essential, 

 for correcting undernutrition in school children. In some schools where funds 

 were available the lunch was given not only to the underweights but to all children 

 irrespective of their condition. In this way those who were undernourished 

 were not made conspicuous by being singled out for special treatment, and the 

 large group who were somewhat below par but not sufficiently underweight to 

 be judged "malnourished" also received the benefit of the extra food. It was 

 assumed by those advocating such blanket feeding that the children who were 

 already well-fed would adjust their day's food intake to the extra meal and were 

 in little danger of being overfed, while the majorit>- of children would be benefited. 



Palmer (18) reported that a group of Detroit school children who were given 

 a school lunch for eleven weeks in 1919 gained 25 ounces more than their expected 

 gain, while those receiving no lunch lost an ounce. In many unpublished demon- 

 strations similar results were obtained. Because milk is recognized as a most 

 important article in the diet of children, and since so many receive less than the 

 amount generally considered adequate, these mid-morning feedings almost 

 invariabh' consisted of milk, with or without crackers. 



That some other food as well as milk might be effective was suggested by a 

 study made in 1923 at Iowa State College by Newell and Miller (16), who reported 

 a sharp upturn in the weight curves of 12 out of 14 school children when 45 c c 

 of orange juice were given over a three- and later a two-week period. There 

 are, moreover, children who are taking generous quantities of milk and yet are 

 undernourished The question was therefore raised by a few observers whether 

 some other food, such as orange juice, which would supplement milk and was 

 stimulating to the appetite, might be more effective for supplementar\- feeding 

 in these cases. 



With this in mind Chaney (2) observed a group of school children from middle- 

 class homes in Oakland, California, for two 8-week periods. All were 7 per cent 

 or more underweight as judged by the Wood standard but had only minor defects 

 otherwise and were "free to gain" as indicated by medical and dental examina- 

 tions. Chaney reported (1923) that either fresh orange juice, bottled orangeade, 

 or milk given in the mid-morning seemed of value in overcoming underweight 

 in children, since the mean percentage gains in weight were higher for the fed 

 than for the control groups. Two possible explanations were suggested for the 

 fact that milk produced less-marked gain than orange juice in this test: the lack 



■The authors wish to express their appreciation not onl\- to the communities in which the study- 

 was carried out, including the children, the parents, the teachers, and the school committees, for 

 their fine cooperation: but also to the dental hygienists and physicians who made the examinations 

 of the children, for their technical assistance: and particularly to Dr. Sallie H. Saunders for her 

 counsel and advice in the evaluation and interpretation of the medical records. 



