Curative bananas and the world population

I recall that, during the Second World War, appeals were made on the BBC Home Service for anyone in possession of a banana (a very rare thing in those days) to donate it to save the life of a sick child. From what ailment could these children have been suffering?

Children with coeliac disease are unable to absorb many of the foods they eat and they suffer from persistent diarrhoea. Untreated they fail to thrive physically and few survive into adulthood.

Bananas are a good source of calories and its digestion is not affected by the disease. The “banana diet” became popular in the mid-1920s and for the next 15 years or so was one of the mainstays in the management of children with that disease. However, they were very scarce in Britain during the Second World War; hence the frequent appeals for supplies to help affected children.

That coeliac disease is due to an intolerance to gluten (found in many cereals including wheat and rye) was not identified until the late 1940s. A Dutch paediatrician had noticed that children with the disease did fairly well during the occupation of the Netherlands when foods containing gluten were scarce, but that their condition deteriorated once these foods again became available after the war.
— Dr Stuart Carne, London W14

During the war bananas were regarded as a luxury item, and were constantly asked for, hence the song of the time, Yes, We Have No Bananas.

A full consignment of bananas did make it through on one occasion and the Ministry of Food decreed a “special ration” of one banana for every child over 14.

I came down to breakfast soon afterwards and found a single banana on my plate. The adults unpeeled the banana for me and I gingerly took one bite and made the mistake of saying, “I don’t like it,” which was followed by a clip round the ear as they chorused: “How dare you, men have died to bring you that banana.”
— David Griffiths, Bromley, Kent

About 20 years ago, it was claimed that out of all the people who have ever lived on Earth, almost a quarter were still alive. Could that have been true and how has the proportion changed?

Historians estimate that there were one million people on earth in 10,000BC, rising to 200 million in AD1, reaching 5.1 billion in 1988 and 6.6 billion this year. Using these figures and an estimated life expectancy of 25 years until 1750, increasing to 66 years at the present time, it can be shown that since 10,000BC, about 45 billion people have been born on our planet, 14.5 per cent of whom are alive today. Because of the huge increase in the world’s population in the past 20 years, the figure in 1988 was 11.6 per cent.
— Martin Vlietstra, Fleet, Hants

In the opening lines of his book 2001 — A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke wrote in 1968: “Since the dawn of time, roughly a hundred billion human beings have walked the planet Earth.” The world population today is about six billion. So, assuming that Clarke was right, about one in 16 of all those who have ever lived are alive today, not a quarter.
— David Stratton, Altrincham

If all colours mixed make black, as is true with light, how come, when mixing paint or, indeed, coloured plasticine, you end up with a mucky brown/grey colour?
— Caroline Doyle, London SW16

Who is the oldest actor to have played Hamlet on the West End stage?
— Matthew Lyne, London SE22

Potholes should occur at the outer parts of the road, at the points of maximal stress, resulting from wear and tear by the wheels of vehicles. Why then do potholes have a random distribution?
— Sam Banik, London N10

E-mail your questions and answers to q&a@thetimes.co.uk , fax them to 020-7782 5870 or write to Questions Answered, The Times, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1TT. Please include your address and daytime telephone number.