A closed-form approximate expression for the solution of a simple pendulum in terms of elementary functions is obtained. To do this, the exact expression for the maximum tension of the string of the pendulum is first considered and a trial approximate solution depending on some parameters is used, which is substituted in the tension equation. We obtain the parameters for the approximate by means of a term-by-term comparison of the power series expansion for the approximate maximum tension with the corresponding series for the exact one. We believe that this letter may be a suitable and fruitful exercise for teaching and better understanding nonlinear oscillations of a simple pendulum in undergraduate courses on classical mechanics.

Resumen El objetivo del estudio fue determinar los efectos sobre los hábitos alimentarios de escolares en una intervención educativa alternativa al modelo convencional de promoción de alimentación a un centro con comedor y proyecto de huerto ecológico. Estudio observacional descriptivo de corte transversal y comparativo de 111 niños y niñas entre 9 y 12 años, en el periodo 2013-15. Se comparó un colegio con intervención alternativa con otro que únicamente incluía contenidos propios del currículo de Educación Infantil y Primaria, mediante evaluación de adherencia a la dieta mediterránea del alumnado con cuestionario validado Kidmed. El centro de intervención presentó mayor adherencia a la dieta mediterránea que el centro control. En el centro de intervención el porcentaje de alumnado con dieta óptima (64,52%) fue mayor que los que necesitaban mejorar su dieta (33,87%), mientras que en el centro fue inferior (42,86% y 51,02% respectivamente). Los escolares del centro de intervención presentaron mayor porcentaje de respuestas afirmativas en ítems Kidmed. El programa de promoción de alimentación saludable alternativo del centro de intervención podría ser efectivo para la adquisición de una dieta de mayor adherencia a la dieta mediterránea.

This study analyses the historical background data on Spanish community nutrition by means of the study of the first attempts toward institutionalization which took place in the Nutrition and Food Hygiene Division of the Spanish National Health School, restricting the search to the 1930-1936 period. In conjunction with the training of the public healthcare professional in the subjects related to nutrition and diet, a research program was carried out which took in three major areas of work. In order to be able to ascertain what the average regular diet of Spaniards and to serve as guidance for the preventive measures aimed at achieving a proper diet, consumption-related studies and surveys were conducted. A study was made of the chemical composition of Spanish foods for the purpose of determining the possible lacks. Lastly, the health problems entailed in a deficient diet in risk groups such as diabetics were analyzed. The results of the research revealed that the average diet of Spaniards, especially those of the working classes, was far from being able to be considered balanced from the nutritional point of view. The greatest problems lay in a deficit of animal proteins, as well as major lacks in mineral and vitamin intake. The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936 halted the institutionalization process being carried out. It was only in the 1960's, following the parenthesis of the first stage of the Franco era, that the health authorities once again took an interest in these diet-related problems.

The worsening of the leprosy problem in Spain during the final decades of the nineteenth century and the initial decades of the twentieth century made it possible for missionary and philanthropic activities to recover one of the most productive parables of charity. Medical care for leprosy patients became a monopoly of religious organizations and charity associations. A social imagery was generated around those initiatives in which the metaphorical dimension of the disease reinforced social control mechanisms through lepers' exclusion and segregation. On the basis of the study of the philanthropic initiative that led to the opening of the Fontilles (Vall de Laguar, Alicante, Spain) leper colony in 1909, this paper analyses the key aspects explaining those images as well as their consequences.

<!--field: Resume-->Entre les années 1920 et 1960, la maternologie (santé maternelle et infantile) et les politiques de protection sociale des mères ont connu, dans le cas de l’Espagne, un développement en liaison avec les progrès enregistrés dans la connaissance des pathologies prénatales et de leurs causes et en relation avec le fait qu’un grand nombre des morts qui se produisaient habituellement pendant la période périnatale ont commencé à être considérées comme évitables. En s’inscrivant dans un contexte plus large, européen et international, la lutte contre ce que l’on dénommait danger congénital est devenue, grâce aux critères prophylactiques et préventifs, l’un des objectifs prioritaires des services d’hygiène maternelle et infantile espagnols, mis en œuvre d’abord dans le cadre des réformes sanitaires de la Seconde République (1931-1939) et qui se sont poursuivies dans le Programme de Santé Maternelle et Infantile « ?au Service de l’Espagne et de l’enfant Espagnol? » (1938-1963) sous l’impulsion de la dictature franquiste. Après un résumé des causes médicales et des principaux éléments considérés comme responsables de la mortalité périnatale au cours des décennies centrales du xx^e siècle, l’article analyse le rôle joué par les consultations prénatales des dispensaires d’hygiène infantile et la mise en place de l’assurance maternité dans la prophylaxie de la mortinatalité et de la mortalité néonatale précoce. <!--field: -->