A study of English diets by the individual method: III. Pregnant women at different economic levels

Abstract

1. The diets of 120 pregnant women at different economic levels have been studied by the individual method.2. The intake of calories was found to be little affected by income, and this was true also of fat and carbohydrate. The intakes of protein, animal protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin B1 rose convincingly with income.3. These differences were due to the fact that a rise in spending power led to an increased consumption of milk, fruit, vegetables and meat, and to a decreased consumption of bread and total cereals. Details are given in Table V.4. Women taking the better diets were found on average to be taller and less anaemic than those taking the poorer diets. The differences were significant.5. A comparison of the diets of the well-to-do women with the requirements suggested by the League of Nations and other authorities suggests that the requirement for calories has been set too high. The intake of calcium was suboptimal throughout and the diets of the poorer women were deficient in many respects.

A dietary and clinical survey of pregnant women with particular reference to toxaemia of pregnancy

“…Compared with the group of 120 pregnant women studied by McCance (1938) this group were getting more bread, milk, potatoes, vegetables and fish but Intake of dietary constituents per day c, 'r a, e s-cp.…”

“….0I E 10z U" 0 ' S" 08 O A , Tndicates mean intake of items recorded by Widdowson & McCance (1938) in a similar group. The last column shows the percentage change in consumption of various items compared with 1938.…”

“…Unfortunately, the method is tedious and much more time-consuming than the questionnaire method, hence only a relatively small number can be investigated compared with other methods. For this reason there have been very few analyses of the diet of pregnant women by the individual method, the most important being that of McCance, Widdowson & Verdon-Roe (1938) on 120 women of varying social class. They showed increasing intakes ofprotein, calcium, iron and vitamin B1 with income.…”

Haematological Findings in Non-white Sick Children in Capetown

“…All the reports in the literature dealing with the question of the relationship between socio-economic status and haemoglobin level in healthy subjects conclude that low economic circumstances are associated with a lowered haemoglobin level (Fullerton, 1936;McCance et al, 1938;Committee on Haemoglobin Surveys, 1945;Berry et al, 1952). In the only report found on ill children, Somerford (1938) stated that the socio-economic status does not appear to influence the haemoglobin level.…”

Nutritive Requirements in Pregnancy and Lactation

“…The minimal toxicity of the newer sulfonamides such as sulfadiazine should lead to a more obvious decline in the mortality rates of these infections. 3. The effectiveness of sulfadiazine as a therapeutic agent coupled with its low toxicity makes this the drug of choice in the treatment of streptococcic meningitis.…”