- Email: [email protected]
RMBF
760
with riboflavine and nicotinic acid, are in compound vitamin tablets that can be issued whenever the medical authorities on the spot ’think they are required. The needs of troops engaged in patrols and other operations where the normal supply of food in bulk is impracticable are being met by two types of compact ration packs. The first is an individual ration for one day, one or more of which the soldier carries in his pack, according to how long he has to be selfsupporting. This is made up of items chosen for their high calorie value relative to weight and volume, including high-fat biscuits, and blocks of dehydrated cheese and of dehydrated cooked oatmeal with fat and sugar, as well as tea-sugar-milk powder, which only needs boiling water to produce a cup of tea, and lemon-juice powder with sugar. The day’s ration is packed as three meals, each in a very light sealed aluminium container that completely protects the food against moisture, gas, and insect pests, but can be opened easily with a pocket-knife. Although primarily designed for use over short periods, men may have to subsist on this ration for several days, and its vitamin and salt contents are therefore supplemented by a tablet containing the important water-soluble vitamins, and ten-grain tablets of sodium chloride. Two of the salt tablets dissolved in the contents of the soldier’s waterbottle make a 0’1% solution, the strength recommended by physiologists and on grounds of palatability. Replacement of salt lost in the sweat by adding salt to the drinking water has the advantage of correlating the soldier’s salt intake with his water intake-a necessary precaution, since the requirements of water and salt in a hot climate are interdependent. The soldiers’ comfort has not been forgotten in planning this ration, for the packs contain cigarettes and even toilet paper. Each man is also provided with a pocket cooker. The second special ration is a variant of the 14-man composite ration pack, familiar since the landings in North Africa. The Far Eastern version has been designed to supply only 6 men for a day, so as to keep the weight down to a porter’s load in case the packs have to be man-handled over long distances. The pack consists of canned foods, and is supplied in seven different menus chosen from items known to be popular with British soldiers. The tins are coated externally with a special camouflage paint, which also protects them against rust and corrosion, and are packed in a wooden case treated with mouldresisting paint. The composite ration pack is intended for group, not individual, feeding, but none of the items require more cooking than standing the ’tins in boiling water, and at a pinch all can be eaten cold. Men may have to be fed for weeks on these packs, so vitamin and salt tablets are again included. To provide safe drinking-water for men who cannot be supplied from bulk or unit purification apparatus, a filter bag and pocket sterilisation outfit are supplied, for use with the ordinary water-bottle, which will render any source of water potable. By measures such as these-the antithesis of the living-on-the-country methods that have repeatedly brought disaster to their enemy-the nutritional health of the British soldier and his Imperial comrades in the Far East is being fostered, and we hope assured, in what. ever conditions of warfare he may find himself.
together provided
’
Annotations RMBF
ESSENTIAL work for the profession is done by the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, which should have the active support of every doctor. The fund is doing well, but could do better if it had the assured income it deserves. A new possibility now being considered is the establishment of a home to take old and disabled people who have nobody to look after them. There are many beneficiaries of the Fund-members of our profession or their dependants-who would rejoice to know that there was a place where they could really be-at home and end their days in peace and comfort. Meanwhile the Fund provides whatever help it can offer by grants of money and otherwise. The scope and need of this work are shown once more in the report which will be presented to the annual meeting to be held at 3.30 PM next Wednesday, June 20, at the house of the Medical Society of London, 11, Chandos Street, Wl. It is hoped that this year,,now that the European war is over, supporters in the neighbourhood will make a point of attending the meeting if they can. NUTRITION IN NEWFOUNDLAND FoR over 40 years attention has been repeatedly called to the unsatisfactory nutritional state in Newfoundland, our oldest colony ; many studies have been made and much has already been done to improve matters, but the latest survey, done last August by a highly skilled team at the invitation of the Commissioners for Public Health and Welfare, finds that the health of the 320,000 inhabitants is still far from satisfactory. Poverty, poor fertility of land, remoteness of a large part of the population, and lack of transport are some of the difficulties the Government has to face. The death-rate varied in 1939-43 from 11-7 to 12-5 per 1000. In England and Wales in the same period the rate was 11-6-14. The infant-mortality rate in St. John’s was 111per 1000 live births in 1942 ; in England and Wales it was 49. The death-rate from respiratory tuberculosis in 1941 was 144 per 100,000 ; in England and Wales in the same year, 57 per 100,000. The published report says that " stomach ailments" are common, yet gastric and duodenal ulcers are rare. " Renal stone " is common. Tuberculosis is prevalent, but nothing is said about the extent of bovine infection, and one in three of the people have some fresh cow’s milk. No mention is made of the incidence of arterial disease, arthritis or diabetes, and we do not know from what diseases the people suffer or from what they die. However, the picture though imperfect is full of interest. The report, which is based on the inspection of 868 men, women, and children in St. John’s and several outposts, shows us a people taking a diet adequate in calorie value (adult average 3039 a day) and adequate in protein (94’4 g.) and fat (75’4 g.). Both children and adults are slow in mental reaction and lacking in-initiative, the skin of the children being inelastic, and that of young adults atrophied and wrinkled, subjects of all ages appearing older than their years with poor muscula-. ture in all ages and sexes. Yet the children, though generally underweight, are of normal height. The gums were diseased in 62-73% of the people examined and nearly half of the adults had lost all or nearly all their teeth from that cause, edentulous mouths being not uncommon in the early twenties. Widespread dental caries was also noted. The investigators have sought the answer to this imperfect picture- in an elaborate survey of a few popular dietetic nutrients. They find many signs of vitamin-A deficiency-xerosis conjunctive, 1. Adamson, J. D., Jolliffe, N., Kruse, H. D., Lowry, O. H., Moore, P. E., Platt, B. S., Sebrell, W. H., Tice, J. W., Tisdall, F. F., Wilder, R. M., Zameenik, R. C. Canad. med. Ass. J. 1945, 52, 227.
with riboflavine and nicotinic acid, are in compound vitamin tablets that can be issued whenever the medical authorities on the spot ’think they are required. The needs of troops engaged in patrols and other operations where the normal supply of food in bulk is impracticable are being met by two types of compact ration packs. The first is an individual ration for one day, one or more of which the soldier carries in his pack, according to how long he has to be selfsupporting. This is made up of items chosen for their high calorie value relative to weight and volume, including high-fat biscuits, and blocks of dehydrated cheese and of dehydrated cooked oatmeal with fat and sugar, as well as tea-sugar-milk powder, which only needs boiling water to produce a cup of tea, and lemon-juice powder with sugar. The day’s ration is packed as three meals, each in a very light sealed aluminium container that completely protects the food against moisture, gas, and insect pests, but can be opened easily with a pocket-knife. Although primarily designed for use over short periods, men may have to subsist on this ration for several days, and its vitamin and salt contents are therefore supplemented by a tablet containing the important water-soluble vitamins, and ten-grain tablets of sodium chloride. Two of the salt tablets dissolved in the contents of the soldier’s waterbottle make a 0’1% solution, the strength recommended by physiologists and on grounds of palatability. Replacement of salt lost in the sweat by adding salt to the drinking water has the advantage of correlating the soldier’s salt intake with his water intake-a necessary precaution, since the requirements of water and salt in a hot climate are interdependent. The soldiers’ comfort has not been forgotten in planning this ration, for the packs contain cigarettes and even toilet paper. Each man is also provided with a pocket cooker. The second special ration is a variant of the 14-man composite ration pack, familiar since the landings in North Africa. The Far Eastern version has been designed to supply only 6 men for a day, so as to keep the weight down to a porter’s load in case the packs have to be man-handled over long distances. The pack consists of canned foods, and is supplied in seven different menus chosen from items known to be popular with British soldiers. The tins are coated externally with a special camouflage paint, which also protects them against rust and corrosion, and are packed in a wooden case treated with mouldresisting paint. The composite ration pack is intended for group, not individual, feeding, but none of the items require more cooking than standing the ’tins in boiling water, and at a pinch all can be eaten cold. Men may have to be fed for weeks on these packs, so vitamin and salt tablets are again included. To provide safe drinking-water for men who cannot be supplied from bulk or unit purification apparatus, a filter bag and pocket sterilisation outfit are supplied, for use with the ordinary water-bottle, which will render any source of water potable. By measures such as these-the antithesis of the living-on-the-country methods that have repeatedly brought disaster to their enemy-the nutritional health of the British soldier and his Imperial comrades in the Far East is being fostered, and we hope assured, in what. ever conditions of warfare he may find himself.
together provided
’
Annotations RMBF
ESSENTIAL work for the profession is done by the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, which should have the active support of every doctor. The fund is doing well, but could do better if it had the assured income it deserves. A new possibility now being considered is the establishment of a home to take old and disabled people who have nobody to look after them. There are many beneficiaries of the Fund-members of our profession or their dependants-who would rejoice to know that there was a place where they could really be-at home and end their days in peace and comfort. Meanwhile the Fund provides whatever help it can offer by grants of money and otherwise. The scope and need of this work are shown once more in the report which will be presented to the annual meeting to be held at 3.30 PM next Wednesday, June 20, at the house of the Medical Society of London, 11, Chandos Street, Wl. It is hoped that this year,,now that the European war is over, supporters in the neighbourhood will make a point of attending the meeting if they can. NUTRITION IN NEWFOUNDLAND FoR over 40 years attention has been repeatedly called to the unsatisfactory nutritional state in Newfoundland, our oldest colony ; many studies have been made and much has already been done to improve matters, but the latest survey, done last August by a highly skilled team at the invitation of the Commissioners for Public Health and Welfare, finds that the health of the 320,000 inhabitants is still far from satisfactory. Poverty, poor fertility of land, remoteness of a large part of the population, and lack of transport are some of the difficulties the Government has to face. The death-rate varied in 1939-43 from 11-7 to 12-5 per 1000. In England and Wales in the same period the rate was 11-6-14. The infant-mortality rate in St. John’s was 111per 1000 live births in 1942 ; in England and Wales it was 49. The death-rate from respiratory tuberculosis in 1941 was 144 per 100,000 ; in England and Wales in the same year, 57 per 100,000. The published report says that " stomach ailments" are common, yet gastric and duodenal ulcers are rare. " Renal stone " is common. Tuberculosis is prevalent, but nothing is said about the extent of bovine infection, and one in three of the people have some fresh cow’s milk. No mention is made of the incidence of arterial disease, arthritis or diabetes, and we do not know from what diseases the people suffer or from what they die. However, the picture though imperfect is full of interest. The report, which is based on the inspection of 868 men, women, and children in St. John’s and several outposts, shows us a people taking a diet adequate in calorie value (adult average 3039 a day) and adequate in protein (94’4 g.) and fat (75’4 g.). Both children and adults are slow in mental reaction and lacking in-initiative, the skin of the children being inelastic, and that of young adults atrophied and wrinkled, subjects of all ages appearing older than their years with poor muscula-. ture in all ages and sexes. Yet the children, though generally underweight, are of normal height. The gums were diseased in 62-73% of the people examined and nearly half of the adults had lost all or nearly all their teeth from that cause, edentulous mouths being not uncommon in the early twenties. Widespread dental caries was also noted. The investigators have sought the answer to this imperfect picture- in an elaborate survey of a few popular dietetic nutrients. They find many signs of vitamin-A deficiency-xerosis conjunctive, 1. Adamson, J. D., Jolliffe, N., Kruse, H. D., Lowry, O. H., Moore, P. E., Platt, B. S., Sebrell, W. H., Tice, J. W., Tisdall, F. F., Wilder, R. M., Zameenik, R. C. Canad. med. Ass. J. 1945, 52, 227.