Nutritional research in World War 2: The Oxford nutrition survey and its research potential 50 years later

To investigate the nutritional status of the population of the UK during th e Second World War, nutritional surveys were commissioned in 1941. These in cluded surveys of two groups of pregnant women: the first comprised 120 wor king-class women who were studied in the spring of 1942, and a second group of 253 women in 1944. Both groups were followed up until after delivery. D etailed biochemical assessments were performed on each subject. Our statist ical analysis of the haematological data showed that nearly 25 % of women f rom the 1942 group were deficient in protein, over 60 % were deficient in F e and vitamin A, and over 70 % had severe vitamin C deficiency. The finding s were reported to the Ministries of Health and Food who instigated a food supplementation policy at the end of 1942 that entitled pregnant women in t he UK to extra rations of fruit, dairy produce and to a supply of cod-liver -oil tablets. A second group of 253 pregnant women were studied 15 months l ater which enabled the effects of this programme to be investigated. Supple mentation reduced the proportion of women with vitamin A concentrations bel ow the normal range from 63 % to 38 %, and vitamin C from 78 % to 20 %, but protein and Fe concentrations were not increased but actually declined. Th ese findings continued to exert an influence over government food policy fo r pregnant women until the abolition of rationing in 1954.