Grad Students Starving?

Undergraduates consume about 3200 calories a day, 400 more than graduate students, a survey conducted by the Harvard University Nutrition Committee indicates. The average intake of football players at the pre-season training table tops undergraduate consumption by 800 calories, however, with a total of 4100 daily.

The committee is studying the question: "Are Harvard University students getting their calories from the proper sources and are the nutrients consumed adequate to maintain good health?"

"Nutritionists are as concerned with the source of nutrients," says Dr. Frederick J. Stare, professor of Nutrition and head of the study group, "as with the amounts consumed." Of the 2900-calories daily intake of students in the Graduate School of the Business Administration, 15 per cent came from protein, 41 per cent from fat, and 45 per cent from carbohydrate.

Dr. Stare compared the average 4100 calorie intake of the 1961 football team with a 5700-calorie average reported in a survey made in 1890 of players on a Connecticut football squad. Dr. State remarked that the 1890 diet probably contained more fat.

Weighed As Served

Dr. Stare noted the considerable amount of time and planning involved in conducting dietry studies under the supervision of the Nutrition Committee. Food must be weighed as it is served, waste must be measured, and the nutrient content of each item must be computed.

Beyond its immediate study goals, Dr. Stare indicated the Nutrition Committee will also be concerned with periodically surveying food consumption practices among various groups of Harvard students and recommending changes that will result in the most recent advances in nutrition.

Two Studies Completed

Representatives of the University Health Services, Department of Dining Halls at Harvard and at Radcliffe, the Undergraduate Faculty, and the Board of Overseas Visiting Committee to Kitchen and Dining Rooms have completed two preliminary studies.