Mina W. Lamb’s research while affiliated with Texas Tech University and other places

In order to standardize instruction and to develop visual material using rats in animal feeding demonstrations, an experimental study taught by one instructor instead of the regular 12 instructors was conducted with 24 sections of a beginning food and nutrition course at Texas Tech Univesity in the spring of 1969. Students were actively engaged in this program for a total of three and onehalf class hours during a six-weeks period. Student and instructor response to this experimental program was highly favorable.

In order to be effective in the profession, the nutritionist and dietitian must understand why people eat as they do and why food is accepted or rejected. This is a concept that has not been taught as effectively as those related to what should be eaten. Primary in the parameters of food acceptance is the training of the young child in familiarity with a wide variety of food effective in maintenance of health. This should be initiated at birth, supported in the home, and propagated by effective educational experiences in several aspects of school life. Research reveals several effective techniques and procedures to use to achieve the best dietary practices in adolescents. In dealing with adults, especially those in group-feeding situations, the dietitian and nutritionist must realize that food aversions are deep rooted and may require a team of experts a long time to help even one such person. The close association of food averisions with the total emotional and rational behavior of an individual has been established. As with all health problems, food aversions need to be recognized as one which was easier to prevent and control in the young than in the adult population. This is the challenge to nutrition education at all levels of learning, starting with the infant.