The Carnegie Dietary Survey of Interwar Britain

This research note describes an under-used collection of papers which document interwar income, nutrition and health in Britain which were created in the administration of the Carnegie Dietary Survey by John Boyd-Orr in the Rowett Institute with funding from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust. The survey was conducted in 16 rural and urban places across England and Scotland between 1937-9, and are now held at the Specialist Collections Centre at the University of Aberdeen. While the importance of the survey in informing knowledge about nutrition and the development of rationing has been acknowledged in the field of social medicine, the survey data has primarily been used by epidemiological scientists and economic historians. After outlining the survey's past influences and uses, this item details the possible ways the data could be used by social, economic and local population historians.