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Goods essential to health were distributed more fairly
Prices for food and other essential items, such as blankets, were pegged at a standard rate, so the poor could afford to buy them. During the war years, rich and poor people were eating almost the same diet. More
With many foods in short supply, the richer people in society were not able to indulge themselves to the same extent. Meals eaten away from home, whether in expensive West End restaurants or industrial canteens, were ‘off-ration'. The ability of the rich to eat well at top hotels led to such resentment that, from 1942, the government also prevented restaurants charging more than 5/- a meal.
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In Britain, eating habits improved
The poor ate better than they had in peacetime. This was because of full employment, government encouragement to eat healthily, vitamin-rich foods and the fairness of the rationing system. More
The rationing system was one of the great achievements of wartime Britain. Although everyone complained about it, it meant that no one starved and that food was shared fairly around amongst both rich and poor. It meant also that the population of Britain remained healthy throughout the war - in many ways healthier than it has been before or since.
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Rationing meant people ate a balanced diet, with extra vegetables to fill up.
Some of the more unhealthy foods, such as white bread and sugar, were removed or much reduced in the diet, making everyone healthier. More
It is generally accepted that food rationing improved the nation’s health, resulting in a better diet with more essential vitamins. The Ministry of Food reported that people had lost weight but were generally healthier for it. They were eating a more balanced diet and drinking less. Nevertheless, the diet did tend to be high in carbohydrates and low in vitamin D, which caused an increase in rickets in some areas, such as Northamptonshire, where the number of cases doubled between 1941-2.
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Distribution of food was based on need.
Manual workers and children got different rations. Fewer mothers died in pregnancy than before the war, as pregnant women were given milk and orange juice to improve their health. More
Ration books and clothing coupons were given out to everyone. People with special needs, such as pregnant women and children, had extra milk and eggs. Children under five were allowed orange juice, blackcurrent juice, rosehip syrup and cod liver oil but only half the meat ration. Manual workers had extra cheese. One of the responsibilities of the Food Standards Group, within the Minestry of Food, was the distribution of welfare foods such as cod liver oil and orange juice.
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Children's health also improved.
The minister for food, Lord Woolton,, made sure that every British child got daily milk, cod-liver oil and orange juice, to boost vitamin intake. Free school meals were also given to children of poorer families. More
Free school meals were a mixed blessing for some children, who found themselves singled out and made to feel different in front of their peers. However, surveys showed that, as a result of the better diet and extra vitamins, children were generally taller and heavier than they had been before the war. |
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Evacuation brought to light hidden poverty.
The evacuation of children from inner cities made people more aware of the poverty in some areas and improved the health chances of many children. For the first time, many middle class people saw children in poor clothing with diseases which were caused by malnutrition or by the cramped, dirty conditions in which they had lived. More
These diseases included scabies and impetigo. A survey by Dr J E Underwood of schools in Birkenhead, Liverpool, in February 1942 described the condition of children in some poor areas as deplorable. They were pale and tired-looking, with catarrh and respiratory diseases - problems, he believed, that pre-dated the war. He even welcomed the fact that German bombing was obliterating the worst housing. The local education committee reported that 12 per cent of children were suffering from malnutrition. (Source: Peter Day, Telegraph.co.uk)
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British Restaurants were set up by Local Authorities
The aim was to make sure that people were properly fed. At British restaurants people could get a meal at a reasonable cost. Minced beef with carrots and parsnips was a typical dish. More
British Restaurants were set up in a variety of different premises such as schools and church halls. They served as a temporary, emergency system for feeding those who had been bombed out and also provided meals for office and industrial workers.
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The ministry of food filled newspapers with food facts and advice.
This was aimed at keeping people healthy and at helping them to make the most of food that was not rationed, particularly vegetables. More
One of the Ministry of Information's key propaganda tasks was to inform people in general, and women in particular, of various issues regarding food during wartime. The information covered food creation, distribution, purchase, preparation and rationing, at home, at work and even when eating out. There were food advice centres and the Ministry of Food distributed hundreds of different leaflets and sent speakers to women's groups and workplaces.
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People were generally slimmer with less tooth decay.
Less sugar and fewer sweet snacks saw a fall in tooth decay. The population as a whole also became slimmer. More
People at all levels of society took nutrition more seriously. Much of the advice provided in wartime would still hold true today.
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Most people got plenty of exercise.
With petrol shortages, people walked further than many people do today. The range of jobs that people undertook, to help the war effort, also often required more exercise than office based jobs today. More
Many women worked on the land or undertook other physical jobs. Many men, who were not off fighting, joined the Home Guard and many people got further exercise from growing food in their gardens and allotments.
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There were more accidents (trips and falls) in the Blackout.
The 'Blackout' (in which lights from buildings were not allowed to show and street lamps were not switched on), caused many accidents until people got used to the dark. Poor ventilation, caused by covering windows, led to more coughs and throat infections. More
The Blackout was designed to stop enemy bombers at night identifying cities from the air. However, until people got used to the pitch black, there were many injuries and even quite a few deaths. These were caused by people falling over pavements and running into things. Coughs and throat infections were caused by inadequate ventilation, when all windows were closed and covered to prevent German bombers using the house lights as navigation aids.
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During the war, some important medical advances were made.
The most famous was the use of antibiotics, particuarly penicillin, in the treatment of patients. This was first used on wounded servicemen but, by the end of the war, the use of antibiotics had spread to civilians. More
Sir Alexander Fleming, a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist, had discovered the antibiotic substance penicillin from the fungus Penicillium Notatum in 1928. In the 1940s Sir Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey revisited Fleming’s work and went on to discover penicillin's therapeutic action and chemical composition. The large-scale production of the mould and efficient extraction of the active ingredient was researched, succeeding to the point where, by 1945, penicillin production had become an industrial process for the Allies in World War II.
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The bombing caused health effects such as loss of sleep and fear.
The bombing of civilians was meant to break the will of the people. People were afraid (especially in the early days). There were many civilian casualties. However, people carried on working and supporting each other, and the collapse which the enemy expected never happened. More
Morale has an important effect on health. During the war, the morale of the British people remained high. Even when there was a real possibility of a German invasion, people were confident and determined, and this must have had a positive effect on their health. Despite the many tragedies and discouragements, the bad news and the loved ones lost, people knew they had a part to play and the nation had a real objective in view.
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The war saw the loss of many lives.
Estimates put the total death toll world wide between 50-70 million people, including civilians as well as soldiers and those who died in the Holocaust. More
Around 388,000 British people and around 3,500 people from The Commonwealth died during the war. There were around 850,000 deaths from France, Belgium and the Netherlands and 400,000 from the USA. 10 million Chinese and 20 million people from the Soviet Union died, as well as over 7 million from other eastern European Countries. In addition, the war saw the deaths of over 4 million German people and over 2 million Japanese. |
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