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 APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110015-7

has taken part in international research projects on pollution and the environment.

Enforcement of food sanitation standards resides with regional and district health officers working closely with inspectors from the Ministry of Agriculture. Regulations provide for the inspection of all dairies, livestock farms, slaughterhouses, and food production and handling establishments. A lack of uniformity exists in the enforcement; inspection is more effective in the Czech Lands than in Slovakia. Pasteurization of milk is carried out in the larger cities and towns, but delays in delivery lead to spoilage. In the rural areas, the consumption of uninspected and untreated milk is a continuing source of tuberculosis infection.

2. Diet and nutrition

Progress has been made in increasing the quantity and upgrading the quality of the food consumed in Czechoslovakia. According to official reports, the per capita intake of calories during the period 1936-68 increased by over one-fifth while protein intake increased by one-fourth. Furthermore, the inequalities in food consumption which existed between the Czechs and Slovaks have been reduced; nutritional indicators in Slovakia have risen to levels approximating those in Czech Lands. Domestic agriculture is unable to provide an adequate quantity of foodstuffs; as a result, imports of foods are necessary to meet the expanding demands of the population. Principal imports include meat, wheat, vegetable oils, and fresh fruit and vegetables. The Czechoslovak market appears to offer the possibility of a balanced diet on a steady basis, although it is costly for the average citizen to maintain a high nutritional level. Official statistics show that approximately 30% of consumption expenditures are for food and drink; however, other sources indicate that expenditures on these items may run as high as 50%.

Cereal products, particularly bread, have been staples in the Czechoslovak diet. As recently as 1970, the average person consumed approximately 330 pounds of cereals annually. This accounted for 40% of the daily per capita caloric intake and 30% of protein intake. Dairy products and potatoes have also been dietary mainstays. Since World War II, the average diet has become more varied; the consumption of meat and eggs has more than doubled, and there have been moderate increases in other foodstuffs. Czechoslovaks consume more meat and eggs—an average annual per capita consumption of 71.3 kilograms of meat and 252 eggs—than any other Eastern European country. Yet, due to the inadequacies of domestic production and the inefficiencies in distribution, there are still occasional shortages of meat and of certain fruits and vegetables.

The diet of the Czechoslovaks contains an adequate supply of calories and is not seriously lacking in essential nutrients. There is no evidence of diseases associated with dietary deficiencies, although some citizens may not receive sufficient vitamins during the winter months. The daily per capita caloric intake, in 1970, was 3,130, slightly less than that in the United States. There is a high level of carbohydrate intake; nearly one-half of the calories in the typical diet derive from cereals, potatoes, and legumes, a much higher proportion than that in the United States. Per capita daily intake of protein in 1968 was 91.9 grams, only marginally less than the U.S. average. Animal protein accounted for 30% of total protein.

3. Housing

The chronic shortage of housing has severely affected the quality of life of the average citizen. Poor, overcrowded housing, more than anything else, makes urban life in Czechoslovakia dismal and tedious. Even families with an adequate income by Czechoslovakian standards live in two or three rooms, often sharing toilet and kitchen facilities with relatives or neighbors. A 2% sample of the 1 December 1970 census returns indicated that over two-thirds of the total housing units had three or less rooms. The average young married couple has to wait years for a modest apartment. The result has been overcrowding and lack of privacy. The housing deficit in large measure has been responsible for the prevalence of a low birth rate, which will result in an even greater labor shortage in the future. Social tension and friction apparently have increased because of overcrowding, attended by such problems as juvenile delinquency, crime, and alcoholism.

Because of artificially low rants, the average Czechoslovak household spent less on housing in 1971 than its Western counterpart—about 5% of income in contrast to 14-15%. Nonetheless, lower housing costs are more than offset by the smaller amounts of living space and by the general scarcity of furnishings and other amenities.

The Husak regime has greatly stepped up the pace of housing construction since the beginning of the Fifth Five Year Plan (1971-75). These efforts, however, are far from adequate. In the late 1960's, it was estimated that for Czechoslovakia to catch up to the housing standards of the advanced countries of Western Europe, it would have to build 150,000 dwellings of the current average size annually. In

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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110015-7