During times of war, it is inevitable that the civilian population will face many health and safety problems, even though they aren’t fighting on the war front. This is usually caused by not able to get the resources they need due to the war being a large consumer of resources. During World War 2, many civilians faced problems such as a lack of food and resources, which caused mass starvation throughout much of Europe: people in the Netherlands, Greece, and the Soviet Union, to name a few. To address this, the US military wanted to find an efficient way to deal with starvation and get people to full health quickly.
In order to test different methods, they first needed to get their hands on starved people that were easily accessible and were willing to be experimented on. In the US, in what came to be known as the “Minnesota Starvation Experiment,” a group of 36 men were chosen for the 9 month experiment. One might think that nobody would sign up for this, but, in fact, hundreds signed up hoping to be selected since the cause was of great importance. For example, one participant, Marshall Sutton, was a Quaker so he refused to fight in the war and kill others. He instead decided to take part in this experiment since it was a way for him to serve his country without fighting in World War 2.
In November of 1944, the experiment began. For the first three months, the participants were fed well and to an optimum weight so researchers could have a baseline for comparison. Shortly after, their rations were cut dramatically and ate at most 1,800 calories a day in order to mimic the conditions of the people starving in Europe. On top of that, they were forced to run 22 miles a week, which totalled to them losing 1,000 calories a day. Very quickly, the participants experienced symptoms of malnutrition and starvation including swelling, exhaustion, and mental problems. Even though many were eager to participate, moral was low and 3 people ended up quitting.
By the time the experiment ended, many of the Nazi Death Camps had been liberated and the war was coming to a close so by the time researchers were able to extrapolate results from the experiment, the war was coming to a close. Even though the results of this experiment weren’t of much use during World War 2, the researchers published a guide book that detailed how authorities should deal with a starving population.
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ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that you chose to talk about the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. Some more background about the effects of the semi-starvation group is that they had "significant decreases in their strength and stamina, body temperature, heart rate and sex drive." (APA) Hunger also made them obsessed with food and they would constantly fantasize about it. A key issue with the experiment was due to the war ending in the middle of its starvation phase, the research was incomplete and thus there was no clear guide of how to rehabilitate the starving people. Though the experiment ended in October 1945, it continues to raise questions about the ethics of human experimentation.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/10/hunger
I find it interesting that people were willing to sign up for an experiment that will cause starvation. This led me to research the impacts that the experiment had in understanding the effects of starvation. The experiment showed just how vital proper nutrition really is. Without it, men during the experiment went to extreme measures to obtain food or cope with the lack of food. They obsessively studied cookbooks, stole food, and avoided talking to people since their minds were occupied by the thought of food. These actions exhibited by the participants demonstrates the debilitating impacts of starvation.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.refinery29.com/en-us/minnesota-starvation-experiment
This post was extremely interesting and I had no idea that this ever took place. I think the detail about a Quaker participating to help the war effort without fighting helps show how the American people were very eager to help the war even if they couldn't go fight. The men of the experiment struggled a lot with their mental health and were very depressed. One man even cut off his own finger while chopping wood but couldn't explain why. The experiment is still used by people studying nutrition and eating disorders. It took the men years to recover from the experiment even after they started getting to eat food, but many still don't regret being part of the experiment.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25782294