MILK FOR CHILDREN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21560, 24 January 1940, Page 3

MILK FOR CHILDREN

RESEARCH IN BRITAIN GOOD RESULTS REPORTED Recent experiments on 8000 schoolchildren in Great Britain show that a daily ration of milk not only improves the physique and stamina of children and adolescents but also raises their standard of intelligence. They also show that the larger the ration, the greater the improvement. These features of research undertaken by the Milk Nutrition Committee are emphasised in the final report just issued. They have a special significance in view of the stress of war-time conditions. The committee, of which the Viscount Astor is chairman, is representative of the Government, the medical profession, the teaching profession and the Milk Marketing Board. Test for 12 Months The experiments extended over a period of some twelve months and the amounts of milk fed in school as supplement to the ordinary diet of the children were the same as those in the milk-in-schools scheme—onethird of a pint and, in some cases, two-thirds of a pint per head per school day. At intervals they were measured and examined by specially trained doctors and the teachers took

special steps to assess the scholastic ability of the children. About a quarter of the children received only biscuits, of negligible nutritive value. This group served as the “control” in order to act as a base-line for the assessment of the physical and mental development of the milk-fed children.