Elsie Widdowson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elsie Widdowson
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 21 October 1906 |
| Died | 14 June 2000 (aged 93) |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Chemist, dietitian |
| Institutions | Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry Medical Research Council Dunn Nutritional Laboratory |
| Sub-specialties | dietetics |
| Research | vitamins |
| Awards | Companion of Honour; Fellow of the Royal Society |
Elsie Widdowson CH CBE FRS (born October 21, 1906 – died June 14, 2000) was a brilliant British scientist. She was a dietitian and nutritionist who helped change how we think about food and health. Elsie and her research partner, Dr. Robert McCance, played a huge role during World War II. They helped the government add important vitamins to food. They also managed the food rationing system in Britain during the war.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Elsie Widdowson was born in Wallington, Surrey on October 21, 1906. Her father, Harry, owned a stationery business. Her mother, Rose, worked as a dressmaker. Elsie had a younger sister, Eva Crane, who became famous for her work on bees.
Elsie grew up in Dulwich and went to Sydenham County Grammar School for Girls. Both she and her sister were very good students and won many awards. In the 1920s and 1930s, there weren't many job options for women, besides nursing or teaching. Elsie wanted to use her skills in science, so she decided to study chemistry.
Becoming a Chemist
Elsie studied chemistry at Imperial College London. She finished her degree in just two years. In 1928, she became one of the first women to graduate from Imperial College.
After her first degree, she continued her studies. She worked on how to find and measure different sugars in fruit. She would travel to an apple orchard in Kent every two weeks. There, she picked apples and measured their sugar levels as they grew and ripened. In 1931, she earned her PhD in chemistry for this important work on apples.
Even though her early studies were about plants, Elsie was more interested in how chemicals work in animals and humans. She did more research at the Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry. Here, she studied how kidneys work. She also earned another doctorate degree from this institute.
Working with Robert McCance
Even with two doctorates, Elsie found it hard to get a long-term job. Her professor suggested she focus on dietetics, which is the science of food and nutrition. So, she started a special diploma course at King's College London. She learned about the makeup of meat and fish. She also studied how cooking changed their nutrients.
A Scientific Partnership Begins
Elsie met Robert McCance in 1933 at King's College Hospital. She was studying cooking methods for her dietetics diploma. McCance was a young doctor researching how cooking affected food. Elsie noticed a mistake in his work about the sugar content of fruit. She knew this from her own PhD research.
Instead of being upset, McCance was impressed. He got a grant for Elsie to fix all the old data. From that moment, they became scientific partners. They worked together for 60 years, until McCance passed away in 1993.
Key Research and Discoveries
In 1938, Elsie joined McCance's team at Cambridge University. They studied the chemical makeup of the human body. They also looked at the nutritional value of different flours used to make bread. Elsie also researched how a baby's diet affects their growth.
They studied what happens when people don't get enough salt or water. They also created the first tables that showed the nutritional content of foods before and after cooking. This work became very important during World War II.
In 1940, Elsie and McCance published a book called The Chemical Composition of Foods. This book became known as the "dietitian's bible." It laid the groundwork for modern ideas about nutrition.
Nutrition During World War II
As World War II continued, food became very scarce in Britain. Foods like butter, meat, cheese, and eggs were hard to find. Elsie and McCance worried about people's health due to strict food rationing.
To understand the effects, Elsie, McCance, and their team became their own test subjects. They ate very little food and did tough exercises, like climbing mountains. Then, they ate a simple diet of bread, cabbage, and potatoes for months. They wanted to see if this limited wartime diet would affect their health. Their research showed that people could stay healthy even on this very restricted diet.
They were also the first to suggest adding vitamins and minerals, like calcium, to food. This idea was called "fortification." Their work became the basis for the wartime diet promoted by the government.
Elsie and McCance led the first official program to add vitamins and minerals to food. This started in the early 1940s when calcium was added to bread. They were also key in planning Britain's food rationing during the war.
Post-War Research
After the war, Elsie and McCance continued their work with the Medical Research Council. They helped victims of severe starvation in Europe. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Elsie also studied malnutrition in Africa. Her research on animals showed that poor nutrition early in life could affect growth and health for a lifetime.
Elsie also discovered that newborn babies have much more fat (16% of their weight) than other animals (1-2%). She also studied the importance of vitamins and minerals in baby diets. Her work led to new standards for baby milk formulas in the UK in the 1980s.
Later Life and Achievements
In 1966, Elsie became the head of the Infant Nutrition Research Division. This was at the Dunn Nutritional Laboratory in Cambridge. She officially retired in 1972, but she kept doing research.
She was the president of the Nutrition Society from 1977 to 1980. She also led the Neonatal Society and the British Nutrition Foundation. In 1994, she became a Fellow of Imperial College.
Elsie received many important awards for her work. In 1976, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists. In 1979, she was made a CBE. In 1993, she became a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour. This award is given for amazing achievements in science and other fields.
In 1993, a book was published to celebrate her 60-year partnership with McCance. It was called McCance & Widdowson: A Scientific Partnership of 60 Years, 1933–1993.
Elsie lived in Barrington, Cambridgeshire for over 50 years. She ate a simple diet, including butter and eggs. She believed her long life was due to good genes. Her father lived to 96, and her mother lived to 107. Elsie passed away in 2000 after having a stroke. She never married.
Legacy and Impact
Elsie Widdowson's work continues to inspire scientists today.
- In 2020, the BBC included her in a list of important but lesser-known British female scientists.
- Imperial College London offers the Elsie Widdowson Fellowship. This helps academic staff return to work after parental leave.
- In 2009, a special Chemical Landmark Plaque was placed at the Elsie Widdowson Laboratory in Cambridge. This recognized the lab as a place of great scientific importance.
- In 2021, a blue plaque was put up in her honor near her home in Barrington. It was placed at a former bakery where the bread for her studies was made.
