46 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 310 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



The effects of givinc; a mid-morning lunch to children hax'C been studied in 

 four rural elementary- schools which involved some 760 children. The lunches 

 consisted of pasteurized milk, reconstituted evaporated milk, tomato concen- 

 trate, and a mixture of evaporated milk and tomato juice. 



A definite though not marked improvement in children seemed e\BTOnt with 

 the feeding of milk, whether pasteurized or evaporated, or a mixture of milk and 

 tomato. This was evidenced by the gre?ter proportion of children whose nu- 

 tritional condition, as judged from the med.cal records, had improved from Septem- 

 ber to June, and by a more rapid rate of gain in weight, as well as by the im- 

 provement of the "general" nutritional condition of the children who received 

 the feeding compared with those who had none. 



The results obtained when evaporated milk was given seemed fulK' as great 

 as when pasteurized milk was given. 



Much less improvement was indicated with the feeding of tomato concentrate, 

 though the difference would probabh- ha\e been less had as much tomato as 

 milk been given. 



No increase in the rate of growth in height was found as the result of the 

 feedings. The data as to the effect of the feeding on school absences due to 

 illness and on the incidence and duration of colds were not conclusive. 



Some favorable influence of the lunch on the school progress of the children 

 of the lower grades was suggested, although the data were not entirely conclusive. 



No significant evidence was found of a decrease in the incidence of dental 

 caries as a result of the school feeding. 



Improvement was noted in the children who were in good condition as well 

 as in those who were in fair or poor condition at the beginning of the study. 

 Age did not have any apparent influence on the amount of improvement shown 

 by the medical records, but the greater percentage of increase in gain in weight 

 was found in the older children. 



That some improAement could be detected in the greater majority of the 

 children as the result of giving but one cup of milk or even less of tomato juice 

 as a mid-m.orning lunch, is a severe commentary on the home diets of the children. 

 As there is no reason to think the dietary habits of the families in these communi- 

 ties were better or worse than those in many other villages, such findings justify 

 the contention that the diets of the average family are very often more or less 

 limited in some respects. Just what the limitations may be is not indicated, 

 but in the communities studied they seemed to be corrected more effectively by 

 n>ilk than bv tcmato, though either or both improved the diets. 



