| Effect of Social Conditions |
| One interesting point emerging from the present food surveys, is
that as living conditions become worse, and intelligence decreases,
the diets tend to become more and more inadequate. |
| The women who took part in the survey in Birmingham were particularly
chosen because they were known to be living under really poor conditions. |
| All but two of them (numbers 12 and 13, who were also getting the
priority rations allowed to expectant mothers) who were outstanding
in the group for their intelligence and ability to co-operate, were
certainly living in much more dilapidated homes and in more unpleasant
surroundings than the majority of the London housewives. The results
of this survey show that these Birmingham housewives whose conditions
were worse were obtaining a worse diet than the women investigated
in London. |
| The same trend is shown within the East London women themselves.
Overcrowding, dirty, dilapidated houses and unhappy family relationships
appeared to be associated with bad diet, whereas, in contrast, good
diets appeared to be eaten by the more intelligent and go-ahead individuals.
With only one exception, however, all the women surveyed were worrying
about the difficulty of getting food, and the problem of varying the
menus for their families. The one exception was a grocer's wife. |
| The correlation between social circumstances and diet is indicated
in Table III. |
TABLE III |
Calorie Intake |
Comments |
| 2847 |
"House very clean, although it was dark and shabby. Perfectly
willing to co-operate once she realised anonymity and kept a complete
record." |
| 2557 |
"Housewife volunteered to keep record. Plenty of money going
into the house ... husband a master tailor." |
| 2512 |
"Small flat, very well furnished and clean. Obviously fairly
well off, and are longing to buy a home of their own." |
| 2114 |
"Excellent housewife and mother ... Live in a beautifully furnished,
prefabricated house." |
| 2058 |
"Very intelligent, reads as much as she can about feeding,
cooking, etc ... record excellently kept." |
| 1515 |
"Dirty, small, foul-smelling house ... frequent quarrels with
husband." |
| 1343 |
"Housewife perpetually harassed, house always in a muddle ...
not enthusiastic or particularly intelligent." |
| 1034 |
"House filthy, and in a dreadful state of repair, Housewife
small, and thin, face paralysed. Children not normally intelligent." |
| 1008 |
"Dreadfully overcrowded, no sink. Housewife depressed and ill." |
| 715 |
"Very little furniture, and what there was was on bare boards,
no rugs or curtains. Housewife feels very ill, but won't spend money
on a doctor's fee." |
Conclusions |
| The results of the surveys are summarised in Table IV. This table
shows the striking difference between the diets eaten by the women
studied in London and in Birmingham. Although the nutritional value
of the diets eaten by both groups was less than the average requirements
which have been proposed, the evidence presented and comparison with
surveys carried out by other workers do not clearly indicate whether
the food consumption of separate individuals studied was or was not
insufficient for the individuals' needs. |
TABLE IV
|
| |
LONDON |
BIRMINGHAM |
| |
Average |
Maximum |
Minimum |
Average |
Maximum |
Minimum |
| Calories |
1868 |
3247 |
1008 |
1325 |
2008 |
713 |
| Total Protein |
69 g. |
98 g. |
35 g. |
51 g. |
73 g. |
29 g. |
| Animal Protein |
33 g. |
47 g. |
16 g. |
22 g. |
37 g. |
11 g. |
| Fat |
68 g. |
115 g. |
39 g. |
39 g. |
59 g. |
19 g. |
| Calcium |
0.8 g. |
1.4 g. |
0.3 g. |
0.6 g. |
1.2 g. |
0.3 g. |
| Iron |
13 mgm. |
19.2 mgm. |
6.3 mgm. |
10 mgm. |
14 mgm. |
6 mgm. |
| Vitamin A. |
3,490 i.u. |
12,000 i.u. |
870 i.u. |
1,170 i.u. |
1,840 i.u. |
340 i.u. |
| Vitamin B1 |
1.3 mgm. |
1.8 mgm. |
0.7 mgm. |
0.9 mgm. |
1.4 mgm. |
0.5 mgm. |
| Riboflavin |
1.3 mgm. |
1.9 mgm. |
0.5 mgm. |
0.9 mgm. |
1.7 mgm. |
0.5 mgm. |
| Niacin |
11.6 mgm. |
16.6 mgm. |
5.7 mgm. |
8 mgm. |
11 mgm. |
5 mgm. |
| Vitamin C |
33 mgm. |
138 mgm. |
11 mgm. |
14 mgm. |
30 mgm. |
8 mgm. |
Summary |
| 1. |
A group of 33 women in the East End of London and another
of 13 in a poor district of Birmingham were studied in the summer
of 1947. Individual food consumption was estimated in each case during
the period of a week. |
| 2. |
The diet eaten by the Birmingham women was less satisfactory than
that consumed by the group of women in London. |
| 3. |
The adequacy of diets eaten by individual women appeared to be affected
by adverse social conditions. |
|
