U.N. Reports on Food and Dietary Survey Among Immigrants in Israel

Israeli scientists and medical authorities, aided by two United Nations agencies, are conducting a special food and dietary survey among immigrants in Israel, to determine the food and diet habits of the newcomers and methods for helping them eliminate disease and reduce infant mortality, according to a UN report published here today. The report appears in the monthly “United Nations Review” an official publication of the UN.

Dr. Sarah Bavly, head of the College of Nutrition and Home Economics in Jerusalem, is in charge of the survey, aided by physicians of the Hadassah Medical School and the Israel Government’s Central Bureau of Statistics and Economic Research. On behalf of the United Nations, the project is being aided by the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization. The Israel Government is meeting four-sevenths of the cost involved, the remainder being contributed by the UN agencies.

Especially-trained senior girl students from the College of Nutrition and Home Economics in Jerusalem are conducting the survey among 800 Israeli families, selected on the basis of economic and ethnic grouping, length of residence in Israel, type of settlement, and nature of occupation or work. The study includes a survey of food habits among Israelis who had immigrated from Cochin, India, Kurdistan, Yemen, Iraq, Morocco, Poland, Rumania and Latin America.

The UN report also points out that the school feeding program in Israel, helped by UNICEF, reaches about 120,000 children with a daily lunch, as well as 65,000 children with a cup of cocoa milk. This program, says the report, is considered an excellent way of teaching nutritious food education. “Both boys and girls,” continues the report, “are taught how to–and in practice they do–cook, prepare and serve meals for their fellows in daily shifts. They can go home and teach mother a thing or two.”