+ TBO STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
ids of this 4 
11, wh" 
STUDIES “WE DIETARIES, 
REPORTED BY W. 0. ATWATER AND A. P. BRYANT. 
————_# ¢ o—_—_- 
One of the lines of inquiry with which the Station has been, 
and is still occupied, has to do with the food consumption of 
individuals, families, and boarding clubs. The purpose is to 
accumulate definite information regarding the practice of peo- 
ple of different classes, and in different places, in respect to 
the purchase and use of their food. Such information, coupled 
with that which comes from the study of the composition, 
digestibility, and nutritive value of our common food materials 
and from research into the laws of nutrition, including such as 
is illustrated by the metabolism experiments in which the 
Station is engaged, will gradually make it possible to judge as 
to what are the more common dietary errors and how improve- 
ments may be made to the advantage of health, purse, and 
home life. To this end, however, much painstaking research 
will be necessary. It is very fortunate that a considerable 
number of experiment stations, colleges, and other organiza- 
tions, as well as private individuals, in different parts of the 
country, are codperating in such inquiries under the leadership 
~of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, so that the much 
needed knowledge is accumulating much more rapidly than 
would otherwise be possible. 
The methods followed in conducting dietary studies have 
been fully described in previous Reports of the Station.* The 
general plan includes (1) determinations of the amounts and 
costs of different food materials on hand at the beginning of 
the study, purchased during and remaining at the close of the 
investigation; (2) when practicable, the collection and analysis 
of all kitchen and table waste; (3) a record of the occupation, 
age and sex of the different members of the family or club and 
the number of meals taken by each person. From the above 
data and those for the composition of the food materials as 
* See Reports of this Station for 1891-1896. 






