Annual report of the Medical Department / Colony of Singapore.

  • Singapore. Medical Department.
Date:
[1949]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Medical Department / Colony of Singapore. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    83/222 (page 67)
    In twenty-two Chinese and Indian women, it was possible to measure the intake of the lactating mother individually during the first month after delivery, but as no comparable figures are available for the period of pregnancy they are not recorded here. It may be said, however, that the special diet taken in this first month would appear to be much better than during pregnancy, in this income bracket. It is adequate except in calcium and Vitamin C which are at a low level, especially in Chinese, due to their custom of refraining from eating fresh vegetables and fruit during this period. This investigation has been suspended pending the evolution of a more accurate method of measurement, and the results are withheld for use at a later date. Dietary Surveys in a varied Group of Families whose Income RANGES FROM $100-$450 PER MONTH From family values obtained during the family dietary surveys mentioned above, Table I has been constructed to show the average values for forty-six families, mainly Chinese, to whom the following remarks apply. It is not possible to publish the full details of these families, whose social class extends from labourer to police inspector, but there is evidence to support the following conclusions:— (1) The dietary position was unsatisfactory in most respects, except that the thiamine non fat caloric ratio was above the beri-beri level. (2) These families in the main were above the lowest income groups, so that the picture is not one where the economic factor is necessarily the most important, yet only six of the diets were found to be satisfactory. (3) Families with most children had to eat worse than those with few or no children. Out of seventeen families with three or more children not one family reached the minimum caloric require¬ ment, while thirteen were below the average of their groups. Out of twenty-nine families with two or less children, eleven reached the minimum caloric requirement, while fourteen only, were below the average for the group. (4) While economic factors undoubtedly play an important part in this unsatisfactory picture, there is evidence that unwise food budgeting and bad food habits cannot be ignored, as seventy cents per man per day can buy an adequate diet at current prices, and well over half the families exceeded this expenditure. (5) Nevertheless, even in these groups, the Chinese and Indians; spend seventy per cent of their total expenditure on food and fuel to achieve the modest yet unsatisfactory dietary position indicated. This; is a disproportionate amount and there is obviously, even at this level, little margin for other essential expenditure and savings.