03 
 
Jniversity ol the State ol New York Bulletin 
 
 Entered as second-class matter August 2, 1913, at the Post Office at Albany, N. Y., 
 under the act of August 24, 191a 
 
 Published fortnightly 
 
 No. 696 ALBANY, N. Y. October 15, 1919 
 
 THE RURAL HOT LUNCH AND THE NUTRITION 
 OF THE RURAL CHILD 
 
 PREPARED BY MARY G. MCCORMICK, SUPERVISOR OF THE NUTRITION 
 OF SCHOOL CHILDREN 
 
 Experiments have shown that the nutritive requirements of 
 children are high: a growing girl may need more food than her 
 mother needs, and a growing boy's food requirements may exceed 
 those of his father. Since the energy expenditure is a large factor 
 in determining the total food requirement, those children whose 
 energy expenditure is greater, other things being equal, will require 
 a greater amount of food. The child who has manual tasks to per- 
 form at home, who walks a long distance to and from school and 
 after school again does manual work, must necessarily need more 
 food than does the child who has no duties at home and who either 
 lives near his schoolhouse or has easy access to it by cars. Rural 
 children, therefore, under these circumstances must necessarily have 
 a relatively high food requirement. Three substantial meals a day 
 should be supplied to satisfy their needs. Fortunate is the child 
 who receives an adequate breakfast, a substantial dinner and a 
 suitable supper; whose food not only is adjusted to his digestive 
 capacity, but is eaten under circumstances that promote and not 
 hinder digestion. 
 
 Three substantial meals a day — and yet how may this ideal be 
 accomplished, if the child must carry his noon meal to school in a 
 box? The food in a lunch box is almost necessarily cold and con- 
 centrated; yet digestion is facilitated by warmth and dilution. 
 Eating a box lunch is in a sense a solitary process; yet digestion 
 is favored by pleasant social intercourse. Nor are the children the 
 only ones who suffer from the cold lunch; the teacher after a taxing 
 morning session, finds little in her lunch box that stimulates appetite 
 
 Do8r-Ja20-I2,soo (7-4993) 
 
 Monogra K „ 
 
and induces relaxation. A midday meal of cold food, eaten five 
 days a week, throughout the school year is almost certain to have 
 a harmful effect on the health of both teacher and children. 
 
 To improve the character of the noon meal, the practice of pre- 
 paring at school one hot dish is rapidly growing. The teachers 
 who have tried it are enthusiastic about its results, and say that: 
 
 i The children are more attentive in the afternoon. 
 
 2 The noon hour is much easier for the teacher; even one hot 
 dish has a soothing effect, and teacher and pupils sit down to a 
 quiet social meal. 
 
 3 It affords the tactful teacher an opportunity to make sug- 
 gestions concerning the kinds of foods children should bring in 
 their lunch boxes from home. She may announce the hot dish for 
 the next day, and then advise the children regarding the food that 
 will be good supplements to that hot dish. Many lessons in 
 nutrition may thus be taught. 
 
 4 Children who at home are allowed to cultivate likes and dislikes 
 in regard to food, at school learn to eat what the other children 
 are eating. Having acquired a taste for these foods at school the 
 children ask for them at home; thus the influence spreads from the 
 school to the home. 
 
 5 The tactful teacher will also be able to train the children into 
 habits of consideration for others and the observance of the usual 
 forms of good table manners. 
 
 6 When there are foreign-born children in the rural school, the 
 noon lunch becomes a method for teaching them American cooking. 
 On the other hand, the foreign-born may enrich our knowledge of 
 cookery by teaching us their own methods of preparing food. 
 
 The food prepared in school should be simple in character in order 
 that it may be eaten by the younger as well as by the older children. 
 Milk should be used very frequently as it is rich in building material. 
 The recipe selected should be such as may be prepared in a short 
 time and with the limited equipment available in a rural school. 
 The following recipes are suggested. It is expected that only one 
 hot dish will be prepared each day. Even such a simple food as 
 a cup of hot cocoa will be a most welcome and valuable addition 
 to the child's lunch, and will be relished by the children day after 
 day. As the teacher organizes her work, however, and as the pupils 
 become more skilled in assisting her, she will become ambitious to 
 
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 MAY 2 \ jy 2 
 
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 <?£ 
 
 introduce some of the other dishes. The following abbreviations 
 are used: 
 
 c. = cup or cups Measures: 
 
 tb. = tablespoon 3 t. =1 tb. 
 
 t. = teaspoon 16 tb. = 1 cup (dry measure) 
 
 qt. = quart 
 lb. = pound 
 
 The quantities specified will serve 24 children. 
 
 Recipes 
 
 Cocoa 
 
 f c. cocoa I quart water 
 
 I c. sugar 4 quarts milk 
 
 1 t. salt 
 
 Heat the milk in a pan on the asbestos mat. Mix together the 
 cocoa, sugar and salt. Boil the water. Add the cocoa, sugar and 
 salt mixture slowly to the boiling water. Boil three or four minutes. 
 Stir to prevent burning. Add the hot milk. 
 
 Corn soup 
 
 corn, canned 8 c. butter 20 tb. 
 
 water I qt. salt 2 tb. 
 
 milk 4 qts. pepper \t. 
 
 flour 20 tb. onion \ small onion sliced 
 
 Let corn and water simmer for 20 minutes. Press through coarse 
 strainer. Place onion in milk and set on asbestos mat to scald. 
 Remove onion from scalded milk. Melt butter in pan, add flour 
 and seasonings and stir till smooth. Add the scalded milk gradually 
 and when well blended, cook in the double boiler for half an hour. 
 Add the strained corn and serve. 
 
 Peanut butter soup 
 
 milk 4 qts. salt 1 tb. 
 
 peanut butter 2 c. pepper it. 
 
 flour lie. hot water 1 qt. 
 
 Reserve some of the milk to mix with the flour. Scald the 
 remainder of the milk. Add the hot water to the peanut butter 
 and stir till well blended. Add to the scalded milk. Remove some 
 of the soup and add to it the moistened flour. Cook for a few 
 minutes. Add to the remainder of the soup. 
 
Pea soup (made from canned peas) 
 canned peas ioc. butter 2n th 
 
 water iqt. flour ::.::;■" 2 olb 
 
 su ff r 4tb. salt •' i| tb 
 
 mi . lk 4 qts. pepper i tb' 
 
 onion i small onion sliced "" ' 
 
 Place the onion in the milk and set the milk on the asbestos mat 
 to scald. Drain the peas. Simmer in the water with the sugar 
 for about five minutes. Press through strainer. Remove the onion 
 from the milk. Melt butter in pan, add flour and seasoning and 
 stir till smooth. Add the scalded milk gradually and when well 
 blended, cook in the double boiler for half an hour. Add the 
 strained peas and serve. 
 
 Pea soup (made from dried peas) 
 
 dried peas 5 c. flour.. 
 
 cold water 9 q ts. butter. 
 
 8 tb. 
 8 tb. 
 
 salt pork or bacon | lb. salt ■...............[ 2 tb 
 
 Wash dried peas carefully. Soak overnight in half of the water. 
 In the morning add the remainder of the 9 quarts of water, add 
 the pork or bacon and simmer 3 hours. Remove pork or bacon 
 and press peas through sieve. Melt butter, add flour and blend. 
 Add small quantity of the soup to the butter and flour and boil 
 for a few minutes. It will be necessary to stir constantly to prevent 
 burning. Then add to the remainder of the soup. Season with 
 the salt. 
 
 Potato soup 
 
 mUk 5 qts. salt 2 i tb< 
 
 onion I sliced pepper ij 
 
 butter 10 tb. potatoes, medium size ' 15 or 16 
 
 flour 10 tb. 
 
 Wash and pare potatoes. Dice them. Cook in boiling salted 
 water for 20 minutes. Drain, press the potatoes through a strainer. 
 Place milk in pan with onion to scald on the asbestos mat. After 
 milk is scalded, remove onion. Melt butter in pan, add flour and 
 seasonings and stir till smooth. Add the scalded milk gradually and 
 when well blended, cook in the double boiler for half an hour. Add 
 the strained potatoes and serve. 
 
 Chopped parsley is a pleasing addition to potato soup. Parsley 
 may be grown in a window box at school. It is an ornament to 
 the room as well as a garnish for food. 
 
Tomato soup 
 
 tomato pulp 2 1 qts. flour i\ c. 
 
 sugar 4 tb. butter I i c. 
 
 bay leaf i salt 1 1 tb. 
 
 baking soda ^ t. pepper -| t. 
 
 milk 2\ qts. 
 
 Cook tomatoes, sugar and bay leaf together for about 20 minutes. 
 Press through strainer. Add soda. Melt butter in pan, add flour 
 and seasonings and stir till smooth. Add the scalded milk gradually 
 and when well blended, cook in the double boiler for half an hour. 
 Add the strained tomatoes and serve. 
 
 Creamed toast 
 
 bread 24 slices flour 8 tb. 
 
 milk 2 qts. salt 2 t. 
 
 butter 8 tb. pepper. . . .^ |t. 
 
 Toast the bread. Melt the butter in a pan, add the flour and 
 seasonings and stir till smooth. Add the scalded milk gradually 
 and when well blended, cook in the double boiler for half an hour. 
 Pour one-third of a cup over each slice of toast. 
 
 Scrambled eggs 
 
 eggs 24 pepper it. 
 
 milk 1 1 c. butter 6 tb. 
 
 salt 3 t. 
 
 Beat the eggs until the yolks and whites are well mixed, add the 
 milk and seasoning. Three pans will be needed for this quantity 
 of eggs. Heat the pans, remove from the fire and add 2 tablespoons 
 of butter to each pan. When the butter has melted, pour in the 
 egg mixture; cook slowly. Scrape the mixture from the bottom of 
 the pan as it cooks. Cooking over a heat that is too intense or 
 cooking continued for too long a time renders the eggs tough. 
 
 Spanish rice 
 
 rice 2 c. butter 8 tb. 
 
 tomatoes 8 c. onion 1 small 
 
 sugar 4 tb. salt 2 t. 
 
 ilour 8 tb. pepper |t. 
 
 Boil the rice in a large volume of water for 20 minutes. Drain 
 -off all the water. Cook the tomato, onion and sugar until the 
 tomato is soft; about 20 minutes will be required. Strain. Melt 
 the butter in a pan, add the flour, salt and pepper and stir until 
 smooth, add the tomato juice to the butter and flour, and cook 
 until thick. Add the rice and reheat. 
 
Baked potatoes 
 
 Wash a potato for every child. Place in a hot oven and bake 
 for 45 minutes. When baked, prick with a fork to allow the steam 
 to escape. 
 
 Sweet potatoes as well as white potatoes may be baked. 
 
 Creamed vegetables 
 
 Carrots, peas, celery, turnips, potatoes and onions may be served 
 
 with a white sauce. The vegetables should be washed, pared, cut 
 
 into small pieces and cooked till soft. From one-third to one-half 
 
 of a cup makes a good serving. Pour equal quantity of white sauce 
 
 over the vegetables. 
 
 White sauce 
 
 milk 2 qts. salt 2 t. 
 
 flour 8 tb. pepper | t. 
 
 butter 8 tb. 
 
 Place the milk in a saucepan on the asbestos mat to scald. Melt 
 butter in pan, add flour and seasonings and stir till smooth. Add 
 the scalded milk gradually and when well blended cook in the double 
 boiler for half an hour. Pour the white sauce over the cooked 
 vegetables. 
 
 Creamed macaroni may also be made by allowing for each child, 
 one-quarter of a cup of macaroni broken into inch pieces. Boil 
 the macaroni in boiling salted water for 25 minutes. Drain off all 
 the water. Pour the white sauce over it. 
 
 On warm days, one may add to the attractiveness and value of 
 the school lunch by preparing a dessert to be served cold. The 
 following recipes are suggested. 
 
 Soft custard 
 
 milk 2 qts. salt 1 1. 
 
 eggs 8 vanilla 2 t. 
 
 sugar 1 c. 
 
 Scald the milk. Add the sugar to the milk and stir till dissolved. 
 Beat eggs slightly, and add the salt. Pour the hot milk gradually 
 into the beaten eggs. Cook in double boiler. Stir constantly until 
 the mixture coats the spoon. Remove immediately from the heat 
 and pour into a cool dish. After the custard has cooled add the 
 vanilla. This custard when cold may be poured over lady fingers 
 and an appetizing and nutritious dessert is produced. 
 
Junket 
 
 milk 3 qts. junket tablets 3 
 
 sugar 12 tb. vanilla 3 tb. 
 
 Crush the junket tablets in about 3 teaspoons of cold water. Add 
 the sugar to the milk and heat very carefully until lukewarm. Stir 
 to help dissolve the sugar. Pour the dissolved junket tablets into 
 the lukewarm milk, stir, add the vanilla and pour at once into 
 cups. It must stand in a warm room undisturbed, until it is firm. 
 Then remove to a cool place. Just before serving, one may add to 
 each cup a teaspoonful of grape jelly or marmalade. The pulp 
 from stewed dates or prunes may be used in the same way. 
 
 If there is no double boiler in the equipment, the pan containing 
 the food to be cooked may be placed in a larger pan of boiling water. 
 
 Organization of Work 
 
 If the hot lunch plan is a new one in the school district, the task 
 of procuring the equipment will fall to the present teacher. The 
 parents should be invited to a meeting at the schoolhouse where 
 the hot lunch may be explained. A list of necessary utensils should 
 be made and donations of utensils invited. Probably most of the 
 needed articles can be secured in this way. Many school stoves 
 used for heating are adapted to cooking also. If the school stove 
 has no space for cooking, it will be necessary to procure a kerosene 
 stove. Funds for this may often be raised by a school entertainment. 
 
 After the equipment is secured, the daily routine of work must 
 be so planned as to consume as little time as possible. The foods 
 for each of the five days should be planned a week ahead and supplies 
 ordered in good season. The children old enough to be of real 
 assistance should be organized into three groups: group A, cooks 
 the food; group B, serves the food; group C, washes and dries the 
 dishes, replaces dishes and food supplies. 
 
 Duties of group A. Study the recipe the day before it is cooked. 
 -Determine the quantities of materials needed and become familiar 
 with the method of combining them. On the day when the food 
 is to be cooked, measure the ingredients before school or at recess. 
 At the required time before noon, start the cooking of the food; 
 keep it warm until ready to serve. 
 
 Duties of group B. Serving may be done in either of two ways: 
 (1) children may remain in their seats while the servers pass the 
 cooked food to them; (2) children pass before the serving table 
 where each one receives his portion and carries it to his seat. The 
 second plan is the better one if the school is large. 
 
Duties of group C. Have hot water ready at the end of the meal; 
 scrape all the dishes, stack them; then place the hot water in two 
 dish pans. "Wash the dishes in one dish pan using soap; do not 
 waste the soap by allowing it to remain unnecessarily long in the 
 water. As each dish is washed place it in the second pan of hot 
 water. "When the second pan of hot water is filled with dishes, 
 place it on the stove and allow the water to boil around the dishes 
 for about 5 minutes; this is for the purpose of sterilization. Then 
 dry the dishes. Clean the tables and rinse out the dish towels and 
 dish cloths in hot water and hang in the sun to dry. Once a week 
 the towels and dish cloths should be laundered ; some of the children 
 should take them home for this purpose. 
 
 A fireless cooker may be used with advantage in preparing many 
 foods. The principle upon which the use of the fireless cooker is 
 based, is that food when heated will retain its heat for a long time, 
 if it is surrounded by materials that are poor conductors of heat. 
 The teacher should- send to the Division of Publications, United 
 States Department of Agriculture, for Farmers Bulletin 771, " Home- 
 made Fireless Cookers and Their Use." It may be obtained free 
 of cost. 
 
 Distribution of Cost 
 
 Whenever possible the children should bring from home the foods 
 needed for the hot dishes. Each child should bring milk when 
 cocoa is to be made; he should bring an egg when scrambled eggs 
 are to be prepared; a potato when baked potatoes are to be served, 
 etc. It is more practicable for the teacher to provide the cocoa, 
 sugar, etc., and to divide the cost for these and for the fuel among 
 the pupils. 
 
 Food Values of Milk 
 
 There should be a liberal use of milk in the child's dietary; not 
 only is milk easy of digestion but it is richly supplied with building 
 material and also contains the growth promoting substances. It is 
 in addition a good source of energy. The following chart will explain 
 by means of comparison with other foods two of the nutritive 
 properties of milk — its energy and its calcium. Children should 
 be encouraged to take one quart of milk a day. If each of the three 
 meals contains one cup of milk and if a light lunch of milk and a 
 sandwich after school be provided at home, the quart of milk will 
 have been drunk. It is quite desirable therefore that the noon 
 lunch very frequently contain one cup of milk per child. 
 
SOME FOOD VALUES OF MILK 
 
 Energy Value 
 
 quart of milk yields 
 675 Calories for 
 energy. 
 
 It requires 1 lb. lean 
 beef or 1 lb. lean 
 lamb or 2 lbs. 
 fresh codfish or 9 
 eggs to give the 
 same amount of 
 energy. 
 
 Calcium Value 
 
 The comparative amounts of cal- 
 cium in a standard portion of 
 milk, beans and meat. 
 
 *? 
 
 td 
 a 
 
 3 
 
 & 
 
 CD 
 Pi 
 
 I 
 
10 
 
 How often one finds rural children who refuse to drink milk. 
 Does the rural child associate milk with the barns which are some- 
 times in an insanitary condition? Does his dislike for it arise from 
 the fact that the milk which is given him is often slightly sour owing 
 to the lack of ice? Though the children decline to drink milk, their 
 need for it continues. They must be taught to realize the necessity 
 for a plentiful and frequent use of cream soups (made with milk), 
 or rice and tapioca pudding (made with milk), or cocoa, junket etc. 
 
 Equipment 
 
 A suggested list of equipment includes: 
 
 Shelf for holding lunch boxes. 
 
 Cupboard. One may be inexpensively made from a dry-goods 
 packing box, the top surface of which is also used as a table: or, 
 the underside of a kitchen table may be inclosed with boards and 
 a shelf placed in the inclosed space. All foods and cooking utensils 
 must be protected from dust. 
 
 Containers for holding groceries. Mason jars may be used for 
 this purpose. 
 
 Stove. If a kerosene stove is used, it must be cleaned daily, and 
 precautions taken against accidents by fire. 
 
 Utensils used for cooking and cleaning: 
 
 2 saucepans I quart measure 
 
 i double boiler i soup ladle 
 
 I measuring cup I spatula 
 
 I strainer I tray 
 
 I egg beater I mixing bowl 
 
 I wooden spoon I frying pan 
 
 I paring knife 2 dish pans 
 
 I kitchen fork I soap dish 
 
 I can opener I asbestos mat 
 
 I tablespoon dishtowels and dishcloths 
 
 I teaspoon 
 
 The pupils may bring from home their individual cup, plate, 
 knife, fork and spoon. 
 
 The Lunch Box 
 
 The success of a box lunch depends partly on the kind of box 
 used to hold it. A metal box of simple construction is the most 
 sanitary, as it may be easily and thoroughly washed. If a tin pail 
 is used, it should have perforations for ventilation. 
 
 The food in the lunch box should be carefully packed. There 
 should be jars with screw tops or jelly glasses with tightly fitting 
 covers for the liquid or semisolid food. All sandwiches, cookies 
 etc. should be separately and securely wrapped in paraffin paper. 
 
11 
 
 The box should be firmly packed and the heaviest articles placed 
 on the bottom. There should be two napkins; one to serve as 
 tablecloth on the child's desk, the other for his personal use while 
 eating. When the child reaches school in the morning, his lunch 
 box should be placed on the lunchbox shelf where it should remain 
 until noon. The children under eight, years of age and under- 
 nourished children (as explained elsewhere in this pamphlet) may 
 have at recess time an extra feeding of bread and milk; but the 
 practice of allowing other children to eat their lunch at the morning 
 recess is to be strongly condemned. 
 
 The foundation of the school lunch must be sandwiches. Bread 
 is nutritious and easy of digestion. Its flavor is so neutral that one 
 does not tire of it. It makes a good background for the numerous 
 kinds of filling. It is inexpensive. The bread used for sandwiches 
 should be one day old and the slices should be evenly cut. The 
 butter spreads more easily if it is creamed. One may cream butter 
 by mixing it with a spoon or placing it in a warm oven for a few 
 minutes. When both sides of the sandwich are spread with butter, 
 there is less possibility of absorption of the filling. 
 
 There is a wide variety in the kind of bread that may be used 
 for sandwiches: brown, date, graham, nut, oatmeal, raisin, rye and 
 white. There is also a wide choice possible for the filling. The 
 following kinds of filling are suggested: 
 
 Meats. Tender meat should be sliced thin. Tough meat should 
 be ground in food chopper and moistened with salad dressing or 
 with cream and rubbed to a paste; chopped celery is a good addition. 
 
 Fish. Creamed salmon, canned sardines freed from bones or tuna 
 fish mixed to a paste with salad dressing or with lemon juice . 
 Chopped celery is a good addition. 
 
 Eggs. Cooked hard, minced and moistened with salad dressing 
 or cream. 
 
 Nuts. Chopped and mixed with dates, or figs or cottage cheese; 
 or ground to a paste, as in peanut butter. 
 
 Cheese. Hard cheese should be used in slices, or grated. Soft 
 cheese, such as cottage cheese or cream cheese, may be used alone 
 or combined with chopped pimentos or olives or nuts. 
 
 Jelly or marmalade. Should be used in small quantities as very 
 sweet food is apt to irritate the stomach of young children. 
 
 Dates, figs, raisins. May be ground to a paste, and moistened 
 with cream or with fruit juice. 
 
 Lettuce or chopped celery. Used with salad dressing. 
 
12 
 
 Suggestions for the Noon Lunch 
 
 The teacher in discussing the food requirements for children will 
 often be asked to recommend suitable lunches. A series of six 
 lunches is here presented: the food prepared at school is printed 
 in italics. The absence of pie is to be noted; the only cake used 
 is sponge cake and cookies. Relishes, such as nuts and celery, are 
 frequently used. Dates and milk chocolate also add to the attrac- 
 tiveness of the lunch. Milk appears in some form in each lunch. 
 
 Cream of pea soup 
 
 Raisin and nut sandwiches 
 
 Apple 
 
 Sponge cake 
 
 Boston brown bread sandwiches with 
 
 cottage cheese filling 
 Dates 
 
 Apple sauce 
 Cocoa 
 
 Cream of tomato soup 
 
 Sardine sandwiches 
 
 Prunes stuffed with cottage cheese 
 
 Milk chocolate 
 
 Cream of potato soup (parsley) 
 Peanut butter sandwiches 
 Stewed figs 
 
 Meat sandwiches 
 
 Celery 
 
 Tomatoes and rice 
 
 Canned berries and graham crackers 
 
 Cup of milk 
 
 Scrambled eggs 
 Cup of milk 
 Celery sandwiches 
 Salted peanuts 
 Orange 
 Molasses cookie 
 
 The lunch of children under eight years of age should be very 
 simple: it may consist of cocoa or cream soups; simple bread and 
 butter sandwiches; and cooked fruit. They should have a mid- 
 morning feeding of bread and milk and, if they remain in school 
 until 4 o'clock, it is quite desirable that they have another similar 
 feeding in the middle of the afternoon session. 
 
 The Day's Meals 
 
 The noon lunch is only one of the required daily meals. However 
 satisfactory it is, it must be preceded by an adequate breakfast 
 and followed by a suitable evening meal. For the children who 
 manifest hunger about 4 o'clock and whose evening meal cannot be 
 served until 6 or 6.30 o'clock, an after-school lunch of bread and 
 milk or cocoa and a sandwich should be provided at home. 
 
 Instruction should be given to all school children regarding their 
 food requirement. The instruction given to the rural child should 
 be based on an understanding of the conditions under which he 
 lives. As previously stated, his energy expenditure is relatively 
 
13 
 
 large: yet he is only a child and has only a child's digestive power. 
 Moreover, seated at the same table with him are the adult members 
 of the household who are generally engaged in heavy work. Their 
 maturity and their active out-of-door life, however, tend to develop 
 in them sturdy digestive powers, and to enable them to digest food 
 that is complex in nature. Familiarity with farm homes quickly 
 convinces one that the food on the table satisfies the taste of the 
 adults rather than the needs of the children. How often the dessert 
 is pie; how frequently, rich cake with heavy icing is offered to the 
 sensitive stomachs of little children. The average mother, of course, 
 is too busy to prepare separate menus for the children. Until the 
 .adult members of the family realize that the children's requirements 
 should be considered first and until they are willing to adapt their 
 •own eating habits to the foods that are also suitable to children, it 
 will be necessary to teach boys and girls that they must abstain 
 from the rich cake and pies that their parents are eating, and to 
 take fruit instead. The food supply of the farm home generally 
 -will permit this adaptation without imposing on the mother the 
 extra duty of preparing a separate dessert for the children. In the 
 autumn months the fresh fruit is available; in the spring and winter 
 ■months canned fruit and berries may be used, and of these the farm 
 home usually has an abundance. For the growing child a dessert 
 of canned pears and graham crackers or other hard cookie is 
 immeasurably superior to cake and pie. 
 
 Nor is the dinner the only meal needing censorship. How common 
 is the practice of permitting boys and girls of tender years to con- 
 sume towering piles of pancakes — soft pancakes, dripping with 
 rich syrup and swallowed with scarcely any mastication. How 
 preferable is hard crisp toast, which requires thorough chewing, 
 a process that benefits teeth as well as digestion. Children may 
 be taught to prepare the toast themselves. 
 
 The teacher should tell her pupils that their breakfast is an 
 .important meal of the day. The children should prepare for break- 
 fast intelligently, first, by developing an appetite by means of 
 sufficient sleep in well-ventilated rooms; secondly, by arising early 
 enough to have ample time for eating. The breakfast should 
 
 consist of: 
 
 Fruit — either fresh or cooked dried fruit. 
 
 Cereal — well-cooked oatmeal, cornmeal and whole wheat should 
 
 he used frequently. 
 
 Toast and butter — whole wheat or graham bread may be toasted 
 as well as white bread and is richer in building material. 
 
 Milk — may be given warm or made into a cup of cocoa. 
 
14 
 
 The lunch when eaten at school may consist of nut or meat or 
 cheese sandwich (simple bread and butter sandwiches for the children, 
 under eight years of age) ; cup of cocoa or soup ; and a simple dessert 
 such as custard or fruit and cookie. An occasional use of sweet 
 chocolate is allowable. 
 
 The lunch after school should be a very simple one: a glass of 
 milk and a slice of bread. 
 
 For the evening meal, cream of pea soup, egg omelet (parsley) > 
 warmed-over potatoes, stewed tomatoes, bread and butter, canned, 
 berries and graham crackers are suggested. 
 
 Good Table Manners 
 
 Eating should be considered from an esthetic as well as from a. 
 physiological viewpoint. What a welcome dinner companion is the 
 person whose table manners are beyond reproach ! How often one 
 is judged by his behavior at table, and condemned if that behavior 
 does not meet the generally accepted social standards. The teacher 
 during the noon lunch is in a position to give the pupils train 
 in the usual observances of table etiquette, which like all good 
 manners are based on kindness and sanitation. The pupils should 
 wash their hands before eating. They should eat slowly and masti- 
 cate their food thoroughly. No matter how busy the day, an. 
 atmosphere of leisure should surround the table. One should not 
 wash down his food with liquid such as water or cocoa or soup. 
 One should not talk while there is food in his mouth. The drinl 
 of liquids and the chewing of food should be a noiseless process. 
 The knife should be used only to cut the food. The knife and fork 
 when not in use should be placed side by side on the plate; they 
 should also be left there at the close of the meal. The spoon should, 
 never be allowed to remain in the cup. 
 
 Nutrition and Weight 
 
 The weight of a child whose nutritional requirements are satisfied 
 will increase steadily. Normal weight therefore is an index of good 
 nutrition. Tables have been formulated giving normal weights for 
 boys and girls of different ages and heights. These tables have 
 been adopted by the United States Bureau of Education and by- 
 New York State Department of Education and are included in this 
 pamphlet. It is recommended that wherever possible the children 
 be weighed monthly, and their weight recorded on the classroom, 
 weight record chart. In a school child, a variation of a pound or 
 
15 
 
 "two from the normal weight may be disregarded. When, however, 
 a child's weight is 10 per cent or more below the normal, he falls 
 into the class of the undernourished. 
 
 As it is physically impossible for an undernourished child to 
 develop along normal lines, a defective body structure, with its 
 accompanying lowered resistance to disease and its impaired efficiency, 
 is the inevitable result. Such a child is in urgent need of advice. 
 He should be weighed weekly and his weight recorded. The teacher 
 should question him regarding his habits. It will often be found 
 that he is not drinking milk, that he uses tea and coffee, and does 
 mot go to bed early. Instruction should be given him regarding 
 Ms food and other -health habits. One quart of milk a day should 
 "be recommended to him: he must not drink tea and coffee, and 
 must increase his hours of sleep. It may be necessary for him to 
 take a rest period during the day time. The teacher may do more 
 than give advice. She may make it possible for him to leave his 
 work in the middle of the morning and the middle of the afternoon 
 and take a supplementary feeding of a cup of milk and some bread. 
 The child should understand that he should bring from home extra 
 food for these supplementary feedings; that they are additional 
 meals in his day's schedule, and in no sense is his noon lunch to be 
 <!iminished because of them. 
 
 A child's health and growth are very responsive to good feeding; 
 it is not difficult to effect a marked improvement in an under- 
 nourished child by attention to his diet. His interest in his own 
 liealth is very much stimulated, however, when he sees that his 
 efforts in health improvement are resulting in measurable gains. 
 Hence the undernourished child should be weighed weekly. A scale 
 in the schoolhouse becomes an instrument on which are recorded 
 •the child's achievements in health. 
 
16 
 
 Height and weight table for girls 
 
 Height 
 Inches 
 
 5 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 6 
 Yrs. 
 
 7 
 Yrs. 
 
 8 
 Yrs. 
 
 9 
 Yrs. 
 
 10 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 11 
 Yrs. 
 
 12 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 13 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 14 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 IS 
 Yrs. 
 
 16 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 17 
 Yrs. 
 
 13 
 Yrs. 
 
 39 
 
 40 
 
 41 
 
 42 
 
 43 
 
 44 
 
 45 
 
 46 
 
 34 
 36 
 38 
 40 
 
 42 
 44 
 46 
 48 
 
 35 
 37 
 39 
 
 41 
 42 
 45 
 47 
 48 
 49 
 51 
 53 
 
 36 
 38 
 40 
 42 
 43 
 45 
 47 
 49 
 50 
 52 
 54 
 56 
 59 
 62 
 
 43 
 44 
 46 
 48 
 50 
 51 
 53 
 55 
 57 
 60 
 63 
 66 
 68 
 
 49 
 51 
 52 
 54 
 56 
 58 
 61 
 64 
 67 
 69 
 72 
 76 
 
 53 
 55 
 57 
 59 
 62 
 65 
 68 
 70 
 73 
 77 
 81 
 85 
 89 
 
 56 
 53 
 60 
 63 
 66 
 68 
 7i 
 74 
 78 
 82 
 86 
 90 
 94 
 99 
 104 
 109 
 
 61 
 64 
 67 
 69 
 72 
 75 
 79 
 83 
 87 
 91 
 95 
 101 
 106 
 III 
 
 113 
 117 
 119 
 
 70 
 73 
 76 
 80 
 84 
 88 
 93 
 97 
 102 
 
 107 
 
 112 
 H7 
 H9 
 121 
 124 
 126 
 129 
 
 81 
 8S 
 89 
 94 
 99 
 104 
 109 
 113 
 118 
 120 
 122 
 126 
 128 
 131 
 134 
 138 
 
 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 53 
 
 
 
 54 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 86 
 90 
 95 
 100 
 106 
 in 
 113 
 119 
 122 
 124 
 127 
 130 
 133 
 136 
 140 
 145 
 
 9i 
 96 
 102 
 108 
 113 
 117 
 120 
 123 
 126 
 128 
 132 
 135 
 138 
 142 
 
 
 56 ! .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 98 
 104 
 109 
 
 114 
 118 
 121 
 124 
 127 
 129 
 133 
 136 
 139 
 143 
 148 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 
 
 
 
 106. 
 
 61 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 62 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 1 ; 
 
 63 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 64 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 65 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 66 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 128 
 
 67 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 68 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 134- 
 
 69 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 -J2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ....1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Prepared by Dr Thomas D. Wood 
 
 About what a girl should gain each month 
 
 AGE AGE 
 
 5 to 8 6 oz. 14 to 16 8 oz. 
 
 8 to 11 802. 16 to 18 4 oz. 
 
 11 to 14 12 02. 
 
 Weights and measures should be taken without shoes and in only the usual indoor clothes.. 
 
17 
 
 Height and weight table for boys 
 
 Height 
 Inches 
 
 5 
 Yrs. 
 
 6 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 7 
 Yrs. 
 
 8 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 9 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 10 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 11 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 12 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 13 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 14 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 15 
 Yrs. 
 
 16 
 
 Yrs. 
 
 17 
 Yrs. 
 
 18 
 Yrs. 
 
 39 
 
 40 
 
 4i 
 
 42 
 
 43 
 
 44 
 
 4S 
 
 46 
 
 35 
 37 
 39 
 
 41 
 43 
 45 
 47 
 48 
 
 36 
 38 
 40 
 42 
 44 
 46 
 47 
 49 
 5i 
 S3 
 55 
 
 37 
 39 
 41 
 43 
 45 
 46 
 48 
 50 
 52 
 54 
 56 
 58 
 60 
 62 
 
 44 
 46 
 47 
 48 
 50 
 
 52 
 
 55 
 57 
 59 
 61 
 63 
 66 
 69 
 
 49 
 5i 
 53 
 55 
 58 
 60 
 62 
 64 
 67 
 70 
 73 
 77 
 
 54 
 56 
 58 
 60 
 63 
 65 
 68 
 7i 
 74 
 78 
 81 
 84 
 87 
 9i 
 
 57 
 59 
 61 
 64 
 67 
 69 
 72 
 75 
 79 
 82 
 85 
 88 
 92 
 95 
 100 
 105 
 
 62 
 65 
 68 
 
 70 
 
 73 
 
 76 
 
 80 
 
 83 
 
 86 
 
 89 
 
 93 
 
 97 
 
 102 
 
 107 
 
 113 
 
 7i 
 
 74 
 
 77 
 
 81 
 
 84 
 
 87 
 
 90 
 
 94 
 
 99 
 
 104 
 
 109 
 
 US 
 
 120 
 125 
 130 
 134 
 138 
 
 78 
 82 
 85 
 88 
 92 
 97 
 102 
 106 
 in 
 117 
 122 
 126 
 131 
 135 
 139 
 142 
 147 
 152 
 157 
 162 
 
 86 
 90 
 94 
 99 
 104 
 109 
 114 
 118 
 123 
 127 
 132 
 136 
 140 
 144 
 149 
 154 
 159 
 164 
 169 
 174 
 
 9i 
 96 
 101 
 106 
 
 in 
 115 
 119 
 
 124 
 12S 
 133 
 137 
 141 
 145 
 
 ISO 
 
 I5S 
 160 
 165 
 
 170 
 175 
 
 97 
 102 
 108 
 113 
 117 
 120 
 125 
 129 
 134 
 138 
 142 
 146 
 151 
 156 
 161 
 166 
 171 
 176 
 
 
 48 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 56 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 58 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 61 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 110- 
 
 62 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 116 
 
 63 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 119 
 
 64 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 65 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 126 
 
 66 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 130 
 
 67 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13s 
 
 68 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 139 
 
 69 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 143 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 147 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 152 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 157 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 76 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 177 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .. ..j.. 
 
 
 
 Prepared by Dr Thomas D. Wood 
 
 About what a boy should gain each month 
 
 5 to 8 6 oz. 
 
 8 to 12 8 oz. 
 
 AGE 
 
 12 to 16 16 oz. 
 
 16 to 18 8 oz. 
 
 Good nutrition directly or indirectly depends on a variety of 
 conditions: an adequate supply of suitable food; sufficient sleep in 
 well-ventilated rooms; exercise in the open air; avoidance of activity 
 that is exhausting; freedom from obstruction in the respiratory 
 passage, and good teeth. Of these, the largest single factor is an 
 adequate supply of suitable food. Children must be taught that 
 their bodies are literally made from the food they eat : that a body 
 can be no stronger than the foods that build it. Therefore during 
 the period of growth the foods that are rich in building material 
 must be abundantly supplied. Limitation of space does not permit 
 an explanation of the chemistry of food or of the principles of 
 nutrition. One may confidently state, however, that that child is 
 well nourished whose health habits are good and whose daily meals 
 
18 
 
 are built on a foundation of milk (i quart a day) eggs, cereals (whole 
 cereals to be used frequently), vegetables, fruits, with a moderate 
 use of meat and fish; from whose diet tea and coffee are excluded, 
 and whose digestive tract is protected against the injurious effects 
 of rich pastry and hot breads. 
 
19 
 
 Feed a growing child properly and you have helped 
 to make a good citizen. Every child has the right 
 to a useful body and mind, but in order to have either 
 he must be given the right kind of food at the proper 
 time. — ■ Dr Mary Swartz Rose 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 ii ii < ii <i i ii in ill ii it mi mm in in. 
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