An attempt to correlate the growth of institutional children with the food supply.

Abstract

Hillside Home is an institution consisting of four cottages for boys, three for girls and one for children of both sexes under five. Each cottage except the last contains on the average from 20 to 25 children of mixed ages ranging from six to sixteen. Each has its own kitchen, a cook and house mother. Food is obtained by requisition from a central storeroom and from the Home farm which maintains a herd of cows, a truck garden, small fruit, etc.

From June, 1921, to June, 1923, eight surveys, covering periods of from two to six weeks, were made at nearly uniform intervals of the food consumption in each cottage. Calculations of the energy consumption per person per day were then compared with the total energy requirement for populations of like age distribution, as postulated by Holt and Fales. 1 The average food consumption varied from this requirement in different cottages from a deficit of 403 calories to a surplus of 48 calories per person per day. The average cottage showed a deficit of approximately 200 calories. The average growth in weight varied in different cottages from 81 to 120 per cent of the normal rate of gain as determined by Baldwin 2 —the average of all being very close to the rate of gain found by this author. The conclusion may be drawn that normal growth, as nearly as it can be denominated at present, is possible on an average total energy supply which may vary considerably from the Holt standard.