The purpose of the study which resulted in the col-
lection of the enclosed material was to compare the foods
of other peoples with that of the Americans in relation
to health. The inspiration for the work came at the
request of Mr. Michael M. Davis, Jr.
A deep sense of appreciation is felt toward many
friends and fellow workers who very kindly cooperated.
Acknowledgment is here given to a large number of
men and women of different nationalities for their pa-
tience and help in teaching the recipes which had to
be made many times before the measurements were
standardized.
Mrs. Mary L. Schapiro's article, "Jewish Dietary
Problems/' was of great value in making the study of
Jewish food habits.
Many thanks are due to Miss Minnie Newman, of
the Foreign Department of the National Young Women's
Christian Association, for much information secured in
relation to both the Polish and Hungarian diets.
To all others who from time to time added valuable
information, this piece of work is gratefully dedicated.
Bertha M. Wood.
Boston, December, 1921.
6+1.5-7 ^27873
^
X o o
ia
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
Foreword vii
I. Dietary Backgrounds i
II. Mexicans 6
III. Portuguese 13
IV. Italians 18
V. Hungarians 39
VI. Poles and Other Slavic Peoples . . 49
VII. The Near East: Armenians, Syrians,
Turks, and Greeks 65
VIII. Jews 82
IX. Applications 96
Portioni of Chapters I, IV, VI, VII« VIII, IX, were published in
''Immigrant Health and the Community," by Michael M. Davis, Jr.,
Harper and Brothers, New York, to whom acknowledgment is here
made.
FOREWORD
A FAMOUS doctor has referred to this medical age as
having witnessed "the passing of pills and powders."
Although the patent medicine advertisements in news-
papers and magazines seem to belie the remark, yet
the fact remains that physicians nowadays give less
medicine to their patients than formerly and pay much
more attention to hygiene, diet, and occupation, both
as therapeutic agents in curing disease and as factors
in maintaining the individual in the best of health and at
a high level of working efficiency.
Of these personal and environmental factors affecting
the hygiene of life and the physical efficiency of the
individual, food ranks among the first. The physician,
the public health nurse, the social worker, must deal at
every turn with problems of diet. These present them-
selves in economic form when the income of a family
is so low as to make adequate nourishment difficult, even
with very careful selection of foods. The problem
presents itself in a medical form in the treatment of
many diseased conditions: diabetes, nephritis, tubercu-
losis, "malnutrition," constipation, etc.
Thus the dietitian has entered the area of medical and
public health service as an aid to the physician and as
an agent in the curing of disease and the maintenance
of health. In this capacity the dietitian has entered the
hospital, the clinic, and the homes of patients. Books
have been written and courses are given for the training
of dietitians for such service, but to a large extent the
dietitian, the physician, public health nurse, and social
▼ii
Vm FOREWORD
worker have approached the problem of diet merely
from the standpoint of foods, food elements, and
food values. The approach needs also to be made from
the standpoint of the persons who are to be fed. The
patient's food habits, his tastes, inherited or acquired,
are often vital considerations because the practical ques-
tion in securing results is often not what diet the person
needs, but what diet he can get or will take. Knowing
the technique of adapting diets to individual needs in
terms of food elements, calories, mineral content, vita-
mines, etc., is essential ; knowing the technique of adapt-
ing the diet in terms of the patient's food habits and
financial circumstances is no less so.
Page 1
Presented as published in 1922. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The purpose of the study which resulted in the collection of the enclosed material was to compare the foods of other peoples with that of the Americans in relation to health. The inspiration for the work came at the request of Mr. Michael M. Davis, Jr.
A deep sense of appreciation is felt toward many friends and fellow workers who very kindly cooperated. Acknowledgment is here given to a large number of men and women of different nationalities for their patience and help in teaching the recipes which had to be made many times before the measurements were standardized.
Mrs. Mary L. Schapiro's article, "Jewish Dietary Problems/' was of great value in making the study of Jewish food habits.
Many thanks are due to Miss Minnie Newman, of
the Foreign Department of the National Young Women's Christian Association, for much information secured in relation to both the Polish and Hungarian diets.
To all others who from time to time added valuable information, this piece of work is gratefully dedicated.
Bertha M. Wood.
Boston, December, 1921.
6+1.5-7 ^27873
^
X o o
ia
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
Foreword vii
I. Dietary Backgrounds i
II. Mexicans 6
III. Portuguese 13
IV. Italians 18
V. Hungarians 39
VI. Poles and Other Slavic Peoples . . 49 VII. The Near East: Armenians, Syrians,
Turks, and Greeks 65
VIII. Jews 82
IX. Applications 96
Portions of Chapters I, IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX, were published in ''Immigrant Health and the Community," by Michael M. Davis, Jr., Harper and Brothers, New York, to whom acknowledgment is here made.
FOREWORD
A FAMOUS doctor has referred to this medical age as having witnessed "the passing of pills and powders." Although the patent medicine advertisements in newspapers and magazines seem to belie the remark, yet the fact remains that physicians nowadays give less medicine to their patients than formerly and pay much more attention to hygiene, diet, and occupation, both as therapeutic agents in curing disease and as factors in maintaining the individual in the best of health and at a high level of working efficiency.
Of these personal and environmental factors affecting the hygiene of life and the physical efficiency of the individual, food ranks among the first. The physician, the public health nurse, the social worker, must deal at every turn with problems of diet. These present themselves in economic form when the income of a family is so low as to make adequate nourishment difficult, even with very careful selection of foods. The problem presents itself in a medical form in the treatment of many diseased conditions: diabetes, nephritis, tuberculosis, "malnutrition," constipation, etc.
Thus the dietitian has entered the area of medical and public health service as an aid to the physician and as an agent in the curing of disease and the maintenance of health. In this capacity the dietitian has entered the hospital, the clinic, and the homes of patients. Books have been written and courses are given for the training of dietitians for such service, but to a large extent the dietitian, the physician, public health nurse, and social
▼ii
Vm FOREWORD
worker have approached the problem of diet merely from the standpoint of foods, food elements, and food values. The approach needs also to be made from the standpoint of the persons who are to be fed. The patient's food habits, his tastes, inherited or acquired, are often vital considerations because the practical question in securing results is often not what diet the person needs, but what diet he can get or will take. Knowing the technique of adapting diets to individual needs in terms of food elements, calories, mineral content, vitamines, etc., is essential ; knowing the technique of adapting the diet in terms of the patient's food habits and financial circumstances is no less so.