ALLOWANCES

Recommended Allowances

RUTH M. LEVERTON.

NUTRITION is a science of the quantity, as well as the nature, of the substances we need from food for good health. Supplying some of any essential nutrient does not insure good nutrition: The body must have a large enough supply of each nutrient to meet all of its needs all of the time. A reserve supply in the body for use during emergencies is most desirable also.

Good judgment must go into interpreting the results of investigations into the quantitative requirements for a nutrient and the application of results to develop dietary standards or guides.

The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council is the scientific group in the United States that is assembled to interpret the results of research and to set up dietary standards. It has been mentioned in several preceding chapters in connection with the amounts of Calories and nutrients that are recommended for healthy persons.

The Food and Nutrition Board was established by the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council in 1940 to advise the Government on matters of food and nutrition. The Academy had been set up by a congressional charter in 1863 to advise the Government on subjects of scientific importance.

Members of the Board are appointed from among the leaders in the sciences related to food and nutrition on the basis of their experience and judgment.

One of the first responsibilities of the Board was to develop a dietary guide for the United States a guide that would state the amounts of Calories and certain nutrients needed to keep the population of the country well nourished and that would be of help in planning adequate diets for healthy individuals and population groups. It would be a basis of comparison in checking the nutritive value of the food consumption of individuals and of groups. It would provide goals toward which to work when planning the country's food supplies.

Members of the Board first studied all of the research reports that threw light on the requirements for Calories and nutrients. Then they set tentative amounts for Calories and the nutrients for which a guide was needed. They could do this, of course, only when the necessary scientific information about requirements was available.