Dietetics for Nurses

by Fairfax T. Proudfit

No other science has so much to do with the general welfare of mankind as the study of food and its effects in the human body. When we use the term “dietetics” as representing “the effect of the food in the human body,” we do so in a very broad sense, for the subject is a big one, requiring comprehensive terms to express it.

The problems of nutrition are many. Food alone is no small subject and a still greater one is the utilization of food materials in such a way that the body may gain the greatest value with the least expenditure of vital forces. These problems are discussed in this text and the methods of overcoming them are given in the simplest possible language. For this purpose the subject of nutrition has been divided into groups: (1) a comprehensive study of the sources of food, its composition and nutritive value; (2) the effect of food in the body under normal conditions, as in health; and (3) its behavior and effect when conditions in the body become abnormal, as in disease. In this way much of the non-essential material is eliminated from the course of study and only that included which it is necessary for the nurse to understand and which she will constantly use both in the hospital and later on in the practice of her profession. The simple methods of study presented in this text are given with the idea of avoiding confusion in the mind of the average pupil nurse by fitting in the course with her other studies rather than by making it stand out as a separate subject. In this way she will be able to see at a glance the connection between the body processes and the materials which are used to carry them on. Thus her study of physiology, anatomy and bacteriology go hand in hand with that of dietetics, each bearing a distinct relationship to the others.

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CONTENTS

SECTION I
FOOD AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
CHAPTER		PAGE
I	Food	[1]
II	Fuel Value of Food	[36]
III	Food Requirements of the Body	[42]
SECTION II
LABORATORY OR DIET KITCHEN WORK
IV	Methods of Feeding in Normal and Abnormal Conditions	[59]
V	Food Materials and Their Preparation	[81]
VI	Infant Foods and Formulas Used in Abnormal Conditions	[140]
SECTION III
THE HUMAN MACHINE
VII	The Human Body	[165]
SECTION IV
DIETO-THERAPY
VIII	Pregnancy and Lactation	[191]
IX	Infant Feeding	[199]
X	Care and Feeding of Children in Normal and Abnormal Conditions and in Infectious Diseases	[231]
XI	Feeding of Adults in Diseases of the Gastro-intestinal Tract	[245]
XII	Diseases of the Intestinal Tract	[263]
XIII	Fevers in General	[281]
XIV	Typhoid Fever	[288]
XV	Diseases of the Respiratory Tract	[301]
XVI	Dietetic Treatment Before and After Operation	[312]
XVII	Urinalysis	[323]
XVIII	Acute and Chronic Nephritis	[336]
XIX	Diseases of the Heart	[365]
XX	Diabetes Mellitus	[372]
XXI	Diseases of the Liver	[404]
XXII	Gout, Obesity and Emaciation	[418]
XXIII	Other Conditions Affected by Diet	[451]

APPENDIX

	Table I. Edible Organic Nutrients and Fuel Values of Foods	[461]
	Table II. Ash Constituents of Foods in Percentage of the Edible Portion	[472]
	Table III. Showing 100-Calorie Portions of some Common Foods, Together with Their Protein, Nitrogen, and Mineral Content	[478]
	Table IV. Composition and Fuel Value of most of the Foods used in the Invalid Dietary	[484]
	Table V. Vitamines in Foods	[496]
	Heights and Weights for Children under Five Years of Age	[499]
	Height and Weight Table for Boys	[500]
	Height and Weight Table for Girls	[501]
	Pelidisi Chart	[502]
	The Nutritional Index—The “Pelidisi”	[503]
	Index	[505]

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