MILK FOR SCHOOL PUPILS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 8, 8 December 1936, Page 12

MILK FOR SCHOOL PUPILS.

♦ EXPERIMENT AT COLLEGE STREET. With commendable enthusiasm, the acting headmaster (Mr L. J. Plank) and one of the class teachers (Mr A. E. Joblin) have for some time been fostering an interesting experiment iu the consumption of milk by the pupils of one of the classes at the College Street School. Milk has been taken from June to October, at the rate of half a pint per day per child, and given at 10.30 each morning. The milk was from a tuberculosis-free herd. It was clean, served in halfpint bottles, bottled and capped under most hygienic conditions. The children were given a straw through which to drink the milk which meant they got it more slowly. The records show that the average increase in the height of the children taking milk was 1.46 inches. The average increase in those not taking milk was 1.0 inches. The average increase in weight of the milk drinkers was 4.91 b. The average increase in weight of the non-milk drinkers was 1 31b. One child put on 121 b. The attendance for the first ten weeks was 9-2.7 per cent and for the rest ol tiie time 96.4 per cent. Dr. Elizabeth Gunn, schools medical officer in commenting on the experiment, stated that she weighed and measured the children at the beginning of the experiment in June, Zb, in the class being anxious to take the milk. The other 25 were weighed ana measured also to act as controls Unfortunately for the testing, but fortunately for the children, the controls in a few weeks were also all taltincr milk. Indeed, throughout the school from 145 to 157 children were having milk each day. In Wanganm some 700 to 800 had milk each day in the town schools. "There has been a definite increase in the weight of the children taking the milk and the class teacher assures mo a marked increase m classwork efficiency, while the attendances have been better," Dr. Gunn added. "Two girls markedly underweight were so weak in thoir work last year that they failed to pass their examinations, but wero later promoted to balance tho numerical strength of the class. They put on weight with milk, reached the normal weight and now have been accredited with their proficiency. What did they do differently in the two years? So far as we know they had this half pint of milk each day. Dr. Gunn was not prepared to state definitely that tho hall pint of milk did all that, but asked what else had tho children to account tor ifc? ".[ think that wo probably established a liking for milk and more was taken during tho day. All growing children should take one pint to 1J pints of milk per day as well as their ordinary food." The medical officer paid a tribute to tho excellent work done by Mr Joblin and others. Tho Health Department had many samples of the milk taken and thoroughly tested, always with most satisfactory and excellent, results.