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Chart Showing the Composition of Foods (II)

Daily Energy Requirement. - Many studies have been made in various countries to establish the food requirements of persons at different kinds of work. Let us examine some of the results arrived at by American experts. A man who does fairly hard work, a store salesman, for example, doing more or less lifting and walking, would require food furnishing about 3000 calories of energy a day.

Such a combination of foods as the following, selected from the different food groups, would very nearly supply this requirement: Protein group-12 ounces of meat, moderately fat, or meat substitutes, or poultry, fish, eggs, cheese; or 8 ounces of these and half a pint of milk.

Group depended on for fats-3 ounces (about 1/2 cup) of butter, oil, meat drippings or animal fat.

Cereal group-12 ounces of bread, which has about the same food value as 9 ounces of such cereal foods as oatmeal, cornmeal, rice.

Sugar group-3 ounces (about 1/2 cup) sugar, or 1/2 cup of honey or syrup.

Mineral matters-2 pounds (fresh weight) of vegetables and fruits, of which part may be canned or dried.

In planning the daily requirement of food, many factors are to be considered. Daily occupation must always be taken into account. Clearly the outdoor man at hard work expends more energy than the store salesman or the man who sits at a desk all day, and can therefore digest a greater quantity of more difficult foods. Likewise, an adult in the prime of life and activity requires more than an elderly person; and a growing child, in proportion to weight, more than an adult, since the growth of the body must be provided for.

Then, too, the weight, size, and shape of the body must be regarded. A short, fleshy person usually requires less than one who is tall and slender, and the larger in size more than the smaller. The quantity also varies with the season and climate. Usually less is eaten in summer than in winter, and more in a cold than in a warm climate. .

Since no two persons are alike, or live and work under the same conditions, it is evident that nature never intended that food should be measured in exact amounts. The personal element enters into every question of diet, and modifies it. Digestions vary, conditions vary, not only in individuals, but in the same individuals from day to day. Moreover, not all food eaten is assimilated; therefore more should be provided than the minimum quantity. If necessary, stint on the rich protein foods, since all the food groups contain a certain amount of protein. In general, the average daily and weekly energy needs of persons of different ages, and at different kinds of work, are represented in the following table:

TABLE OF DAILY AND WEEKLY ENERGY NEEDS The average person over 12 years of age needs 2800 calories daily; 20,000 weekly, or. *100-Calorie Portions Per Day Per Week 23 200 A man at moderately active muscular work may need 3400 calories daily; 23,800 weekly, or.. 34 238 A man or boy using much muscular energy in work or play may need 4000 calories; 28,000 weekly, or. 40 280 A man or boy using little or no muscular energy needs 2800 calories daily; 20,000 weekly, or.... 28 200 A woman or girl using much muscular energy in work or play may need 2800 calories daily; 20,000 weekly, or.. 28 200 A woman or girl using little or no muscular energy in work or play needs 2200 calories daily; 15,000 weekly, or 22 150 A boy or girl between 10 and 12 years of age needs at least 2000 calories daily; 14,000 weekly, or... 20 140 A boy or girl between 6 and 9 years of age needs at least 1700 calories daily; 12,000 weekly, or... 17 120 A boy or girl between 2 and 5 years of age needs at least 1400 calories daily; 10,000 weekly, or 14 100 These figures represent the allowances which should be made in the family food supply for each person. Only averages can be * Used for convenience in estimating. A hundred-calorie portion equals one hundred calories. given as a standard of comparison; these will naturally be more or less affected, as before noted, by the season, amount of energy expended, and other individual conditions.

A WEEK'S FOOD SUPPLY FOR AN AVERAGE FAMILY It is not necessary that the foods of each meal should be in the right proportions, although that is desirable. The important fact to be kept in mind is that the diet, as a whole, from day to day and week to week, should be well balanced. A balanced food supply is likely to insure a balanced diet a point very graphically illustrated in the five charts which follow. The average family here considered consists of two adults, and three children whose combined ages total 20 to 24 years; or four adults. Such a family would require food fuel amounting to 800 one-hundred-calorie portions, that is, 80,000 calories per week. This total would be apportioned about as follows:

Group 1. Milk, meat, eggs, and similar foods. 20 per cent, or about 1/5 = 160 Group 2. Fat, and fat foods.

Group 3. Cereal foods..

Group 4. Sugar and other sweets.

Group 5. Vegetables and fruits. " " 15 100-Calorie Portions = 20 = 160 30 " " 3 = TO 240 10 " " 1 TO = 80 20 " " * = 160 100 800 800 one-hundred-calorie portions equals 800 times 100, or 80,000 The chart estimates are made in pounds, dozens, and quarts; and also in one-hundred-calorie portions. Since foods are bought and sold by weight and measure, and not by calories, the calorie method is rather difficult; but a little study will enable the housekeeper to make approximate estimates by either method, which is all that is necessary for practical purposes.

Chart No. 6, opposite page 432, "Counting the Cost of a Week's Food Supply", shows the number of 100 calorie portions in individual foods as purchased. By means of this chart the cost of the fuel value of foods can be estimated. See also Tables, pages 433, 434.

AWEEK'S SUPPLY OF MILK MEAT AND SIMILAR FOODS Contribution from Office of Home Economics CF Langworthy, Chief.