The Postum Cereal Company

“ Boys and girls in their teens need as much food as grown people and in some cases more. This is because they have not completed their growth and are unusually active. Children from two to twelve years of age must have surprisingly large amounts of food as compared to grown persons. The child from two to five needs about half as much food as the grown person of moderate activity, while children from ten to thirteen years of age may need fully as much food as they will later on in their teens. ”

“ The figures for protein, calcium, phosphorus, and iron are expressed in terms of the percentage of the total daily requirement for an adult that one serving of a given food material furnishes. These figures show then the comparative value of the commonly used food materials as sources of the daily supply of protein, calcium, phosphorus, and iron. The standard amounts of protein, calcium, phosphorus, and iron estimated as being required daily by the average adult are: protein 70 grams (21⁄2 ounces) ”

“ One who is too fat should first choose the foods that have in them most highly concentrated the necessary proteins, vitamins and minerals, and which, at the same time, add the fewest number of calories. This means he will leave off the table the highly refined foods containing pure sugars and starches.
To reduce, one must drive his body to consume its own stored up fat supply to get the fat it needs for fuel. If one is too thin, he should just reverse the process. ”

“ After adequate amounts of protein, mineral salts, and vitamins have been provided, both well-being and economy demand that at least one-half of the remaining energy (calories) required should be obtained from carbohydrates. The energy required per day by a man doing active muscular work is estimated at from 3300 to 3500 calories, by a woman doing light muscular work from 2500 to 2700 calories. The energy requirements of boys and girls in their teens are as great as those of adults, if not greater. ”

“ On the following page is a general chart of the number of calories that the different members of an average family should have daily. It helps to get at a glance the relative amounts of food needed by young and old, even if not applied in detail. Page 92 of the Appendix gives the number of calories needed daily by people of different ages and occupation, showing how physical effort and weight modify the amounts of food needed as measured by calories. ”

“ The season of the year, the climate, the kind of clothing we wear, and whether we are indoors or out also have a material bearing upon the amount of food that is necessary to keep us fit for Wellville’s journey. ”

“ A man of the same weight, doing light work, will need 1440 calories a day for his internal activities, 200 calories more for five hours sitting at rest, and 1210 more calories for eleven hours light work, making his total daily energy requirement 2850 calories. ”

“ The wide range of individual caloric requirements, depending upon age, sex, occupation, etc., is illustrated by the fact that a laboring man may need as high as 4000 calories a day to sustain him properly, a laundress 3000 calories a day, whereas a sedentary seamstress or teacher may need only 2000 to 2200 calories a day. ”