The results of these experiments are sufficient in themselves to establish conclusively the benefit to be derived from regular feeding even when no other factor in the child's environment is changed. "No doubt," says Dr. Haden Guest, "irregular and late hours, disturbed sleep, overcrowding, improper clothing and employment of children after and before school hours, do each and all exercise a very detrimental effect on the children of poor parents. But that the greatest influence for evil is exerted by improper and insufficient food is a matter over which it appears impossible to have great controversy."[[502]]

And these results are corroborated by abundant testimony from School Medical Officers, teachers, Care Committee workers and others, of the benefit derived by the children where the Provision of Meals Act has been put in force. "The children derived an enormous amount of benefit" from the meals.[[503]] "The physical appearance of the children speaks in pronounced terms" of the value of feeding.[[504]] "Those who have any practical experience ... are all agreed that such meals [free breakfasts] are of the greatest value, not only from a humanitarian point of view but also as a necessary adjunct for successful education."[[505]] "There is continuous evidence of the immense benefit conferred upon the children by the administration of this Act—both from the inspection of the scholars at the dining-centres and from the reports of the teachers."[[506]] These are a few typical opinions culled from reports of School Medical Officers. At Manchester "the operation of the provision of free meals acts very largely ... not so much in the way of improving the physical condition of children already emaciated and debilitated, but of preventing their ever reaching that condition by stepping in when the home income fails. It is certain that since the organisation of the supply of free meals at centres covering practically all parts of the city where they are required, the number of underfed children—i.e., the number showing signs of underfeeding—has decreased markedly. It is also certain that the type of child at the feeding centres is gradually improving—i.e., there are fewer children found in the centres with signs of the result of bad nourishment, and there are fewer such children in the schools."[[507]] At Bradford, where the Local Education Authority has systematically endeavoured to effect an improvement in the condition of the children both by the school medical service and the provision of meals, there has been in the last few years a very marked improvement in nutrition and "a fairly regular increase in weight amongst Bradford children as a whole. They are approaching nearer each year to the national average."[[508]]

The witness of the teachers is no less favourable. In London, for instance, the Education Committee in 1910 made enquiries among the head teachers of some of the schools where a considerable number of meals were provided; the majority of the teachers were enthusiastic as to the benefit derived. "Physical progress is most marked," said one headmistress. "The disappearance of chronic headaches, sores on faces, gatherings on fingers, pains in chest ... point to a more 'fit' condition, which the children can only express for me by saying that they 'feel better now,' for they 'are not hungry all the afternoons now.'"[[509]] And a headmaster writes, "The change in the children after a month's provision of suitable and nourishing diet for breakfast and dinner has been distinctly beneficial. They have been more inclined to take part in the school sports, into which they have entered with considerable zest. Their appearance, too, has greatly improved. Their eyes have become brighter, their cheeks rounded. If, for any reason, such as temporary absence, they have lost the advantage of regular feeding, they have almost immediately shown signs of deterioration. When the period [of feeding] has been prolonged to three or six months, their health has permanently improved, and their capacity for work and play has still further developed."[[510]] "The children on the necessitous register," says another headmaster, "now fully participate in these activities [games and sports] and supply rather above their proportionate number of prominent performers; this is equally true of swimming. It is indisputable that in the past lack of nourishment, where it did not entirely exclude, greatly limited the part taken by many children in this the most attractive side of school life."[[511]]

We have ourselves questioned numbers of teachers, both in London and the provinces, on this point. Here and there are found, it is true, teachers who declare that no improvement is to be observed, perhaps because, being with the children day by day they do not notice any change. But the verdict as to the beneficial results of school meals is almost unanimous. At Bradford we were told that it used to be not uncommon for a child to faint in school from want of food; such an occurrence is now unknown. Often children who are dull and listless are found, after a course of regular meals, to become full of life and spirits. It is indeed frequently remarked that the children become "naughtier" after the meals, a sign, of course, of increased vitality.

We find that, as a result of the regular feeding, the resisting power of the children is increased and they are less susceptible to the contraction of infectious and other diseases.[[512]] The attendance at school is thus improved. At a school in the Potteries, the headmaster informed us that during the coal strike in 1912, when three meals a day were given in the schools, there was far less non-attendance than usual through biliousness, headaches or other minor ailments.[[513]] At Liverpool we were told that there has been a considerable improvement in the regularity of the children's attendance, as a result of the dinners.[[514]] Non-attendance may be due, of course, not only to illness, but also to lack of food. When the parents have nothing to give the children for breakfast they will encourage them to sleep through the morning. The headmaster of a very poor school in Liverpool told us that some years ago, before the Education Committee had undertaken the provision of meals, the attendance was very bad. He raised a voluntary fund and provided breakfasts himself. As a result the attendance improved to such an extent that the increased grant amounted to £74, which more than covered the cost of the food (£63).

It would be interesting to compare the nutrition of the children in the Day Industrial Schools, where three meals a day are given. Since the children in these schools, who, it must be remembered, are drawn very largely from the poorest and most neglected class, return home in the evening, the only condition altered is the supply of food. We have, unfortunately, not been able to obtain any statistics as to the weights of these children, but we have received ample evidence from teachers and others as to the very marked physical improvement which is to be observed after they have been in the schools but a very short time. At Liverpool some time ago it was found that the children attending the Day Industrial Schools suffered much from sores and gatherings. On the diet being altered very considerably, these ailments entirely disappeared, and the children, we were told, are now in perfect health. At Leeds the School Medical Officer found that, while of 11,763 children from the ordinary elementary schools, 5·6 per cent. were of sub-normal nutrition, the percentage in the same condition among the Day Industrial School children (of whom 91 were examined) was only 1·1.[[515]]

Let us turn now to the effect of the meals on the mental capabilities of the children. This effect is, from the nature of the case, less easy to assess, and the evidence is not so unanimous as on the question of the physical effect. A minority of teachers assert that no improvement is to be observed. At Hull, for instance, out of 165 head-teachers who were asked for their opinions on this point, 76 declared that there had been a considerable or distinct improvement, 53 that there had been a slight improvement, and 36 that there was no visible difference.[[516]] At Bradford, 134 teachers were of opinion that there had been a considerable or distinct improvement, 35 that the improvement had been slight, 35 that no visible difference was to be noticed.[[517]] "I cannot say," said the headmaster of a London school, "that the improvement in mentality has been in any way commensurate with the physical improvement."[[518]] On the other hand, a headmistress declared, "there is undoubted improvement physically and educationally in the necessitous children supplied with meals at this school. But I confess the fact only came home to me vividly at our last terminal examination, when I found three of them headed the class in Standard III. (including all subjects)."[[519]] Another wrote, "the girls receiving regular meals have become more alert, less apathetic, and consequently far more ready to respond to the teachers' efforts to gain their undivided attention. The interest thus aroused has led the girls to look upon all branches of their work with more favour than heretofore. The taste for knowledge once established, homework has followed with the inevitable results produced by voluntary effort rather than compulsory work."[[520]] In North Kensington the "children who are supplied with milk at school or who are given breakfast and dinner respond at once to the better feeding, and show distinct improvement in their class work."[[521]] At Darlington it was reported that, "generally speaking, the replies [from the teachers] were very definite to the effect that the provision of dinners had assisted the educational progress of the children."[[522]] And a striking illustration of the benefit derived from a regular course of feeding is given us by a medical member of an Education Committee who writes, "I find the condition of the children much improved by feeding. Some children who, eighteen months ago, were considered half-witted are now monitors and monitresses, taking an intelligent interest in their work."

We have already noticed the improvement in attendance consequent on the provision of meals. This, of course, assists in the educational progress, not only of those children who before attended irregularly, but of the whole class, since the others are no longer kept back by the irregular attenders.

Too much importance cannot be attached to the training of the children in habits of self-control and thoughtfulness for one another. For this training the common meal furnishes an excellent opportunity. As we have seen, far too little attention is paid to this aspect of the question. It is true that, even where the meal is served in a somewhat rough-and-ready fashion, leaving, in the eyes of the educationalist, much to be desired, we have generally been informed that there has been an improvement in manners. At first the children, many of whom, probably, had rarely sat down to a meal before, would throw the food at each other or on the floor, and the scene was often a pandemonium. Some sort of order has been evolved out of this chaos. But how far this falls short of what might be effected is seen when one compares the great majority of feeding-centres all over England, not necessarily the worst, with a small minority, such as some of the Bradford centres, or one or two London centres, where the meal is truly educational. It is interesting to hear that, when recently a party of children were sent to the Cinderella Holiday Home from one of the Bradford schools and the supervisor was particularly requested to notice those who had been receiving meals, it was found that they alone knew how to behave at table, and that the others learnt from them.

In another direction the school meal may have an educational result of the highest importance. Children in all ranks of life are notoriously conservative in the matter of food and shy of venturing on unknown dishes, but with the poorest class of children it is not only "faddiness" which has to be contended with; the unaccustomed food, however wholesome for the normal child, actually does not agree with these chronically underfed children. As was pointed out at the time of the passing of the Provision of Meals Act, "one great merit of this Act ... will be the teaching and training of a child in the matter of taste. At present it is a well known physiological fact that the slum stomach cannot accommodate itself in a moment to good, wholesome food. The child has been accustomed to tea and jam and pickles, and to food that is often more tasty than nourishing. It will now eat under public and medical superintendence and gradually a pure and simple taste will be cultivated."[[523]] That this prophecy is in process of being fulfilled may, we think, with justice be claimed. There still exists a certain amount of difficulty in inducing the children to take food to which they are unaccustomed, but that this difficulty can be surmounted by the exercise of tact and attention to individual needs has been practically demonstrated again and again. Over and over again we have been told the same tale, "at first the children would not eat this or that dish, but now they have learned to like it." Especially is this the case with porridge. At first, wherever this was given, it was found that many refused to eat it, but this antipathy was gradually overcome, and the children finally ate it with relish.[[524]] It is amusing to find that at St. George's-in-the-East, where a porridge breakfast was devised as a test of need, it being thought that no child would come who was not really hungry, the children now like the porridge so much that this diet no longer furnishes a test. Where the children do not learn to eat what is provided, it always turns out, on further enquiry, that the supervisors have failed, either because of the large numbers whom they have to look after or, perhaps, through lack of enthusiasm, to devote that careful and detailed attention to the children without which it is quite impossible to bring about any change.