40 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 310 



Table 13. — Weekly Gains of Children in School D in Weight and Height 

 WHEN Given Mid-morning Lunch as Compared with No Lunch 



Number of Mean Gain in Height Mean Gain in Weight 



Children per week per week 



Group Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls 



Cm 



5-Year-Olds 



Lunch 2 1 .13 .12 .13 .11 .04 .27 .04 .16 



No Lunch 2 3 .10 .09 .10 .09 .03 .16 .04 .23 



Difference + .03 + .03 + .03 + .02 +.01 +.11 -.07 



6-Year-Olds 



Lunch 9 11 .12 .10 .11 .10 .06 .27 .05 .26 



No Lunch 12 12 .11 .10 .11 .09 .06 .29 .07 .32 



Difference +.01 +.01 - .02 - .02 - .06 



7-Year-Olds 



Lunch 14 11 .12 .10 .11 .10 .0.5 .20 .05 .23 



No Lunch 12 16 .10 .08 .09 .08 .04 .17 .05 .21 



Difference + .02 + .02 + .02 + .02 +.01 +.03 +.02 



8-Year-Olds 



Lunch 12 13 .11 .09 .11 .08 .06 .23 .05 .17 



No Lunch 17 19 .11 .09 .11 .08 .04 .16 .05 .18 



Difference +.02 +.07 -.01 



9-Year-Olds 



Lunch 18 13 .10 .08 .11 .08 .05 .20 .05 .21 



No Lunch 11 11 .11 .08 .12 .09 .05 .16 .04 .14 



Difference -.01 - .01 - .01 +.04 +.01 +.07 



10-Year-Olds 



Lunch 13 8 .09 .07 .14 .11 .04 .14 .08 .28 



No Lunch 7 9 .09 .07 .13 .10 .03 .11 .05 .15 



Difference +.01 +.01 + .01 + .03 + .03 + . 13 



11-Year-Olds 



Lunch 6 8 .09 .06 .13 .09 .04 .15 .11 .31 



No Lunch 1 4 .09 .07 .10 .07 .02 .08 .03 .09 



Difference -.01 +.03 +.02 +.02 +.07 +.08 +.22 



12-Year-Olds 



Lunch 3 .10 .07 .08 .24 



No Lunch 3 2 .10 .07 .17 .13 .03 .09 .06 .22 



Difference - .07 - .06 + .02 + .02 



13-Year-Olds 



Lunch 2 2 .12 .07 .15 .11 .06 .14 .11 ..34 



No Lunch 1 1 .15 .10 .19 .12 .10 .18 .04 .07 



Difference - .03 - .03 - .04 - .01 - .04 - .04 + .07 + .27 



Influence of Feeding on School Attendance and Colds 



The findings from an analysis of the records of school attendance are not con- 

 clusive The mean number of days absent per child, whether for all causes or 

 for illness, did not vary greatly for different groups in the same schools and was 

 less than the variation between schools. The differences found between the 

 whole groups receiving various lunches were also less than between groups in 

 different schools receiving the same feeding. It was noticed, too, that there had 

 been no epidemic other than ordinary colds throughout the year in the two 

 communities in which the fewest absences were found, while in all the rest there 



