An Evaluation Of Diet Surveys And A Determination Of Their Value As A Device For Improving Eating Habits Of Youth In Six Texas Counties

The increased recognition of emphasis on adequate nutrition throughout the nation as an integral part of the public school program has gained momentum. Not only have diets and health been stressed in the schools, but a relatively new and significant tendency has also evolved, that of incorporating nutrition education, not as an isolated subject, but as one of the essentials of the curriculum. Researchers have advanced the idea that when persons delve into the study of human nutrition they emerge with the feeling that there have been very definite epochs in the evolution of diets. The relation of diets to various aspects of health deserves extensive investigation. As an outgrowth of a nutrition education program, the writer chose to evaluate diet surveys and to determine, if possible, the extent of their value as a device for improving eating habits of youth in six (6) Texas counties. Studies on nutrition and diet surveys reveal that although malnutrition is most prevalent among low-income groups, it is also found among people who have ample finance to be properly fed. Parran (16) implies that no community is sufficiently free of malnutrition to be complacent. It is his staunch belief that a program designed to educate communities and individuals in sound nutritional principles is essential