MID-MORNING LUNCH IN RURAL SCHOOLS 41 



had been epidemics of "flu," measles, scarlet fever, or whooping cough, which in 

 some instances were so general that schools were closed for a number ot days. 

 This being the case, it is not at all clear whether any of the differences found in 

 school attendance were brought about by the lunches or whether they should 

 be attributed to epidemics of acute infections or some other causes not so apparent. 

 The same may be said for the difference in the incidence and duration of colds 

 in the various groups. Was it just chance or due to the feeding that the fewest 

 days of colds came in a group which had no other epidemics during the winter, 

 and that the total days of colds per child were the same from January to June in 

 school D during the year in which they were given a lunch and the year when 

 they had none? The findings show so many fluctuations and there are so 

 many other possible causes of variation in the picture that any conclusion as 

 to whether or not the lunches affected either the absences for illness or the in- 

 cidence of colds does not seem warranted. 



Influence of the Lunch on School Progress 



An attempt was made to ascertain whether the lunches had any effect on 

 the school progress of the children by comparing the total scores of the same 

 mental achievement tests given in the fall and again about seven months later, 

 in the spring. The findings from an analysis of these data do not give a clear 

 picture. 



During the year 1930-31 the Otis Group Intelligence Scale was used. For 

 the first, second, and fifth grades the mean increase in the total scores for the 

 May examination over those for the November examination was greater for the 

 fed than for the control children. For the third and fourth grades the situation 

 was reversed. For the whole group of 213 experimental children the mean 

 increase was 6.3; for the 145 controls, 5.8 (Table 14). The difference does not 

 seem significant. If there were an>- beneficial effects of the feeding, the tests 

 given were too crude to detect them. 



During the next two years the New Stanford Achievement Test was given to 

 all but the first grades, which received the Pintner-Cunningham Primary Mental 

 Test. Again the difference between the mean scores of the experimental and of 

 the control groups in the first five grades as a whole was slight and was greatest 

 for the first and second grades. The variations in the upper grades were less and 

 fluctuated, sometimes in favor of the experimental group and sometimes in favor 

 of the controls. For all those who received the advanced test (grades IV to 

 VIII) the mean increase in total score was the same for the two groups, as indi- 

 cated in the summary below. When all the children were considered, the mean 

 increase in total scores was 10.8 for those who were given the lunch and 9.6 for 

 those who received none, which is but little difference. 



Mean Increase in Scores 



Test Grade 



Pintner-Cunningham I 11.2 8.1 



New Stanford Achievement: 



Primary Test II & III 



Advanced Test IV-VIII 



Total 



