198 



ARON. 



'J'lic best method of determining the diet of a people is to observe how 

 much and what kind of food tliey consume when they choose their food 

 according to tlieir usual custom. It is well known that such researches 

 were very carefully performed, first by C. v. Voit in Germany, and after- 

 wards by many other investigators, esijecially by Atwater and his collabo- 

 rators in America. This method is beset with great difficulties and there 

 is the possibility of error, even if the subject is an intelligent individual. 

 A second method consists in investigating the composition of rations dealt 

 out to groups of individuals who have no ciioice as to their food, the 

 quantity and quality of the food selected in this case being determined 

 by the custom of the people. 



By controlling the food given to soldiers, prisoners, patients in hos- 

 pitals, and inmates of various other institutions, the normal diet of the 

 average man can be determined. The following table shows the standard 

 values of normal diets detennined in this manner and for comparison 

 those I have obtained for Filipino prisoners in Bilibid Prison in Manila. 



Table I. 



For a man performing medium worlc 

 (according to Voit) 



For a man performing medium work 

 (according to Atwater) 



German prisoners (average) 



Filipino prisoners 



Protein. 



Orams. 

 118 



125 

 107 

 75 



Fat. 



Grnms. 

 56 



Carbo- 

 hydrates, 



Grams. 

 500 



Not fixed. 



26 550 



27 510 



Calories. 



3, 055 



3,400 

 2,959 

 2,647 



Through the courtesy of Mr. Wolfe, Director of Prisons, I have obtained 

 an accurate list of the food-stuffs purchased for a hundred Asiatic and 

 Filipino prisoners for the different daj's of the week. I have calculated, 

 according to the average composition of the same food-stuffs as given in 

 standard works, the content in protein, fat, and carbohydrate of this diet 

 where there was no reason to assume a variation from this average. In 

 other instances, where the products, such as bread, fish, and native plants, 

 are peculiar to the Philippines, I have made some determinations myself. 

 I am all the more inclined to believe that this method gives sufficiently 

 accurate average values, because the composition of the food-stuffs 

 purchased in the different months also varies; therefore it may even be 

 more exact to Tegard average values for the composition of the food than 

 the values found in one or two samples determined from the food-stuffs 

 directly. The values calculated as descril)ed above are given in the accom- 

 panying table, the rations being arranged according to their ])i'otoin 

 content. 



