International organisations and the development of a physiology of nutrition during the 1930s

Abstract

The problem of nutrition in the Interwar period was shaped by a complex combination of experimental research, economic and agricultural crisis and social practice. The scientific, political and economic aspects of nutrition allowed researchers to dream of a rational solution to the problem through the design of minimum and optimum standard diets for different incomes, professions and age groups. This article analyses the stimulus given by the League of Nations to a physiology of nutrition by means of a series of technical commissions working in collaboration with the International Labour Office, the International Institute of Agriculture and the Office International d’Hygiène Publique as a starting point to build a new culture of nutrition and better food production and to improve the population’s health. Community nutrition became a political tool to overcome a critical period and civilise people according to scientific patterns and liberal values. Technical reports discussed dietary standards, especially concerning infants and families with small incomes, criteria for an optimum diet, the nutritive value of foodstuffs as well as methods of screening the nutritional state of the population.