4 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 310 



of the antiscorbutic vitamin in milk, and its retarding effect on the appetite. 

 Inquiry indicated that most of the children were taking sufficient milk at home 

 and used oranges less plentifully. For this reason, the orange juice given at 

 school may have supplemented the home diets of these children more effectively 

 than milk. 



This investigation was later continued by Morgan and her coworkers (13, 

 14, 15) in California by observations of small groups of children in the State 

 School for Deaf and Blind and in a junior high school, and a somewhat larger 

 group in a public school where the children came from a lower economic level 

 than those observed by Chaney. As before, the children apparently benefited 

 from the feedings, whether milk, orange juice, figs, or crackers were given. In 

 the first institution, where the basic diet included a quart of milk per child per 

 day but smaller quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables, the best gains were 

 made by the orange-fed groups as Chaney had found. In the last study, in 

 which the children came from poorer homes and had poorer diets, the results 

 were reversed, about equal gains being made by the groups receiving milk or 

 crackers, which in both cases were greater than the gains made by the orange-fed 

 group. In none of these studies was there a significant increase in gain in height. 

 The authors conclude that a definite superiority cannot be assumed for either 

 milk or the fruits for supplementary feeding, and that choice of such lunch for a 

 gi\en group of children should be made only after careful consideration of home 

 diets. 



These studies were all made on relatively small groups of underweight children 

 and the results evaluated on the basis of an increased growth for comparatively 

 short periods. In 1928 Orr (17) reported that the addition of approximately a 

 pint of whole or of separated milk to the diet of groups of children of various ages 

 in seven schools in Scotland and Belfast during a 7-month period was accompanied 

 by a rate of growth, both in height and weight, 20 per cent greater than that of 

 groups of children of the same ages, in the same schools, but not receiving the 

 extra milk. The author also observed that there seemed to be an improvement 

 in the general condition of many of the children receiving the milk. This latter 

 finding seems to have been based on general observation rather than on careful 

 comparison of examinations made at the beginning and end of the study. 



Since the present investigation was begun, Leighton and Clark (11) (1929) 

 have reported a continuation of the above study confirming Orr's first findings, 

 although the increase in the gain of their subjects in height seemed more marked 

 than their increase in weight. More recently (1931) Laird, Levitan and Wilson 

 (10) have reported that improvement was demonstrated in the behavior of 53 

 nervous children by giving milk or still more by giving milk plus a calcium- 

 phosphorus-vitamin D concentrate at nine-thirty in the morning. Another 

 study of interest in this connection is that made by Holmes, Pigott, Sawyer and 

 Comstock (8, 9) on a group of underweight women workers in an industrial 

 concern. The authors reported (1930, 1932) that, as a result of giving half a 

 pint of milk and a dessert-spoonful of cod-liver oil six mornings and five after- 

 noons a week from December 1 to May 15, the experimental group was absent 

 less hours per person per month and showed a higher efficiency than the control 

 group. 



These studies would indicate that beneficial results may be expected from mid- 

 morning school feedings, at least in many underweight children, and in a large 

 enough proportion to bring about an increased mean gain in weight when given 

 to all the children of a school irrespective of their condition. In actual practice, 



