Page:Wood - Foods of the Foreign-Born.djvu/112

 APPLICATIONS TO HEALTH WORK AND TO INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE

our studies of dietary backgrounds it has become apparent:

That a family coming to this country from a wholly different environment is under an enormous handicap in attaining a satisfactory diet, particularly when the income is small.

That doctors, nurses, social workers, and even dietitians generally lack knowledge of the native diets and usual food habits of the foreign-born.

That a large number of the foods of foreign-bom peoples are well adapted to their physical needs. That most of these foods can be obtained in this country.

That the dietary errors arising in this country are largely due to disturbance of the balance in the diet because of change of environment, new scales of prices, etc.; and that the problem before the dietitian is not so much to introduce a complete "American" dietary, as it is to restore the former dietary balance by supplying lost elements.

That knowledge of foods of the foreign-born and of their native dietaries is the foundation of all success in this endeavor; it is a necessity in dealing with many specific problems of health or of disease; and is invaluable as a means of mutual understanding and sympathy between the American-born and the immigrant. "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." The soul 96