Economic and financial section > Problem of nutrition

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Canteen for Patients who are resuming Work.
When a patient leaves the hospital in order to take up a normal
life again, his diet requires special care. He does not lose touch with
the hospital, and attends the canteen. In 1922, Professor Escudero
set up a canteen for patients whose case-record cards show that they
need a special diet. These patients come to the canteen at meal-times,
and resume their work, which enables them to provide for the livelihood
of their families.
The Argentine is probably the first country to have established this
form of social assistance to sick persons on their return to normal life.
The general adoption of this system throughout the municipality was
proposed in 1934.
Canteens attached to Municipal Schools.
In application of Decree No. 7279, the Municipal Institute of Nutrition
has set up a school nutrition service for the sole purpose of looking after
children who attend the canteens. This nutrition service is under the
authority and technical supervision of the Director of the Institute.
It also possesses a staff of pediatricians who are responsible for selecting
the children. Under-nourished children and those who are suffering
from disorders due to inadequate or defective nutrition are singled
out. These children are provided each day with lunch having a net
caloric value of 1,250 calories. During the winter months, three canteens,
each with accommodation for 500 children, will be established and others
will be set up later until there is accommodation for 4,500 children.
These children will also be placed under the supervision of the
Government and the Physical Education Department, which will
supplement the measures taken by the Institute.
Research.
A New Use for Hard Wheat.
The Work of the Municipal Institute of Nutrition is not confined
to propaganda ; it is also endeavouring to solve the technical problem
of the economical nutrition of the population. It has been laid down
as a principle that the concept of popular nutrition should be based,
not on the actual diet of the people, but on diets making full use of
local products.
In this connection, the Institute has considered by what means hard
corn, the most perfect type of which is wheat, can be utilised direct
as a substitute for dried vegetables, which are imported and which,
if home-grown, work out at a higher price. The problem has been dealt
with from the economic, technical and industrial standpoints. For
some time past, corn prepared according to the formula specified by
the Institute has been on the market. The six outer cellulose layers
are removed by a special process, leaving the grain and protein layer,
which constitute the nutritive value of the corn, intact.