[Dairy kitchens in besieged Leningrad (1941-1944)].

Abstract

Retrospective analysis of medical and organizational problems of food supply in besieged Leningrad is important for the development of the principles of population nutrition in extreme situations. The aim of the paper was to characterize the work of dairy kitchens that provided nutrition to infants in Leningrad during the blockade years (1941-1944) on the basis of documentary data. Material and methods. The study was prepared on the materials of the archives of St. Petersburg, considered from the position of the social history of medicine, which is centered on the study of medical practice. Results. In the blockaded Leningrad under the conditions of food, electricity, and water supply shortages, there was a forced abandonment of a number of principles of infant feeding generally recognized by the pediatricians. Almost all infants born in the blockade ring were transferred to artificial feeding with the release of infant formula through milk kitchens. In conditions of food shortages, children under the age of three were also provided with centralized milk products. The activities of the staff of the milk kitchens were carried out in close contact with doctors of regional children's consultations and specialists of the Leningrad Pediatric Institute, who developed issues of rational nutrition for infants. During the blockade years, the formulae developed before the war were generally retained, but due to the lack of dairy resources, vegetable products were used as substitutes. As the food situation in the city improved, doctors and milk kitchens reverted to pre-war recipes, especially for infant nutrition. The products of the milk kitchens were subject to constant supervision by sanitary physicians. Laboratory tests indicated that, in terms of basic microbiological indicators, infant formulae were generally safe and differed slightly from those produced before the war. Conclusion. In blockaded Leningrad (especially during the winter of 1941/1942), the products of dairy kitchens served, as a rule, as the only source of nutrition for infants. Despite a number of organizational difficulties and abuse of workers, the preservation of the network of milk kitchens, centralized supply of milk and formula through them, and expansion of the contingents attached to them justified themselves.