Helen S. Mitchell
Helen Swift Mitchell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 25, 1895 |
| Died | December 12, 1984 |
| Occupation(s) | Biochemist, nutritionist |
Helen Swift Mitchell (September 25, 1895 - December 12, 1984) was an American biochemist and nutritionist.
Mitchell was born at Bridgeport, Connecticut. She obtained her Bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College in 1917 and a doctorate in biochemistry from Yale University in 1921.[1][2]
Mitchell was research director at Battle Creek Sanitarium.[2] She taught nutrition and physiology at Battle Creek College (1924-1935). She was research professor of nutrition at University of Massachusetts.[2] She was principal nutritionist for the Federal Security Agency (1941-1943) and chief nutritionist for the State Department Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation (1943-1944).[2]
She was appointed dean of home economics at the University of Massachusetts (1946-1960).[1] Her textbook Nutrition in Health and Disease was in print for 56 years and sold more than a million copies.[2] It was positively reviewed in science journals as an excellent source of reference for dietitians, public health nurses and students.[3][4][5]
Mitchell took interest in debunking the irrational claims of fad diets.[6] In 1959, she commented that "ten million Americans, who live in a scientific age, waste 500 million dollars a year on quack diets and fake pills and the junk of non-scientific medicine men."[7]
Selected publications
- Nutrition in Health and Disease (with Edith Michael Barber; Lenna Frances Cooper, 1928)
- Facts, Fads and Frauds in Nutrition (with Gladys Mae Cook, 1937)
- Food Fads, Facts, and Fancies (1939)
- What Educators Should Know About the National Nutrition Program (1941)
- Don't Be Fooled by Fads (1958)
- Recommended and Non-recommended Nutrition Books for Lay Readers (1964)
- Nutrition in Nursing (with Henderika J. Rynbergen; Marjorie V. Dibble; Linnea Anderson, 1968)
References
- ^ a b Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey; Harvey, Joy Dorothy. (2000). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L-Z. Routledge. p. 901. ISBN 0-415-92038-8
- ^ a b c d e "Helen S. Mitchell Dies; Nutritionist and Writer". The New York Times.
- ^ Fraser, D. T. (1929). Reviewed Work: Nutrition in Health and Disease by Cooper, Baker and Mitchell. Canadian Public Health Journal 20 (1): 54.
- ^ Wiehl, Dorothy G. (1948). Reviewed Work: Nutrition in Health and Disease by Lenna F. Cooper, Edith M. Barber, Helen S. Mitchell. The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 26 (2): 240-241.
- ^ Schneider, B. Aubrey. (1952). Reviewed Work: Nutrition in Health and Disease by Lenna F. Cooper, Edith M. Barber, Helen S. Mitchell, Henderika J. Rynbergen. The Quarterly Review of Biology 27 (2): 227-228.
- ^ Beecher, Gary R; Dupont, Jacqueline L. (2017). History of Human Nutrition Research in the U. S. Department of Agriculture. United States Department of Agriculture. p. 56
- ^ Mitchell, Helen S. (1959). Don't Be Fooled by Fads. Yearbook of Agriculture. United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. p. 660