The Washington times., 1895-01-27
SALT IN cHILDREN's FOOD.
A Suggestion for Mothers Who Are Inter
ested in Baby's Diet.

Suggestion for Mothers Who Are Inter.
ested in Baby's Diet.
Little is known of the part which salt takes
in nutrition. 1t is the only condiment needed
by children; seeming to stimulate a delicate
appetite, and it certainly facilitates digestion
by rendering foods and causing digestive
juices to flow freely.
1t is IN all foods but not in sufficient guam
tity, therefore it must be added, especially to
food containing potash. potatoes, etc.
child whose diet contains larger amount
OF potato than is advisable, will crave unus-
uai quantities of salt, possibly much to the
astonishment of its guardians. By limiting
this article of food and supplying vegetables
or fruits containing the salts required, this
craving will disappear.
Cows milk contains more potash than
mothers milk, which explains why its use
with salt is advised by food specialists. When
milk is poor in salts, the butter is imperfecty
digested, which is another frequent sourcel
of children's ailments.
farmers wife viii know this and give
young chickens the mineral salts they need
in the form of oyster and egg shells, or lime,
but she may not notice that under faulty
diet regime, deprived OF these self-same salts.
her child is developing rickets; one of the
most preventable yet one of the most. COM
mon diseases OF childhood among rich and
poor.
Prof Uffelman says in Hygiene of the
Child: deficiency of inorganic salts in the
food of growing children. easily overloaded
by their guardians, is a frightiui source of
nu ritive disorder. Deficiency OF lime es-
pecialy tends TO result in rickets "
Salts are especially important in the for
nation OF teeth and of bone. An immense
amount of bone Is formed during childhood.
1t is not until the end OF the twelfth year
that the cartilage entering into the formation
OF bone has been converted into true bone
tissue. which fact will show the pre-eninent
importance ofsupplying foods containing the
required salts during not only the nursery
period but also during the following years of
] childhood.
| A child's diet cannot be watched too closely
| in this respect, and the serious results that
! always follow neglect Of such Irecaution,
| e. e., the developments OF ricketts,. scurvy
eczema, in short, indigestion in its various
! forms ana degrees, must show that the need
| is imperative for close study of domestic
! science, as applied to this and other ques-
| tions of similar import.
Habits OF eating the foods required are
| easily established in the nursery by US ng
|
the uses OF foods containing salts is to give
| children milk and milk only (Which contains
! all the ingredients necessary for normal
GROWTH for the first year. unless advised TO
the contrary by reputable physician. This
is law in France Cereals and we'll made
| bread should then be added gradually.
Supplying farinaceous foods to excess.
without the corrective salts. is frequent
occurrence. and one of the first stumbling
blocks when changing to u mixed diet. Milk
should still be the chief article of food ut this
| time. since fruit and vegetables may not yet
be added TO the dietary. When eggs, maca-
roni, meats, and vegetables are allowable
milk should be used in less quantity. Baked
potato. seasoned with salt, and rice or maca-
roni we'll boiled in salt water. may be given
after two years, suppementing the fat re-
quired with sweet cream or milk.
After two years give fruit juices, stewed
fruits AS pears, prunes. and apples; baked
apples; the pulp of a ripe orange-all con-
| tanning the desired salts-and grapes without
| the seeds which fruit is especially valuable,
being composed chiefly of salts and water in
solution and glucose which is readily ab-
sorbed, until the time arrives for the addi-
tion of easily digested vegetables-three years
of age-eyen then watching closely for indi-
ca ions of assimilation or non-assimllaton.
as each vegetable is tried inasmuch as many
| children inherit tendencles which make it ad-
| visable to defer the use of certain vegetables
until later years. The following vegetables,
| all in their best condition, may be tried in
the order given, according to season: After
three years. as stated before, spinach Gas a
puree), stewed celery. asparagus tips, cauli-
| flower tops, stewed Bermuda or Spanish
onions, very young squash Gas a puree).
tender string beans and young peas and
scraped green corn with no hulD.
MANY mothers will say: "But don't nee
any dietetic rules for my baby OF eighteen
months or two years. He eats everything
and is perfectly well.
L. Emmet Holt. NJ D., of New York, says
| in ''Babyhood'' that he has had quite large
experience with those children who late
| everything" and seemed to relish it, and has
| followed a number of them to their graves as
| the ultimate result Of such unreasonable and
| inconsiderate practices. LOUISE e. HOGAN.