The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-07-13
Let the Boys Eat.

Good Housekeeping.
Recent cases come TO my knowledge OF
boys just entering manhood who have
failed in health. 1.-The body has grown tall
and slender, but not filled out, the fond
mother has said, land yet we have been
so careful of his eating" AS If to prevent
a hearty. growing boy from eating as much
as he wanted was the sure way to perfect
health!
When some member of the family, notice
ably the mother, has suffered from dys-
| pepsia, and is under the advice of a special
list for this particular disorder, her con-
dition ought not to be allowed to disturb
the appetites of the other members OF the
family. As she sits at the table with
scant relish for food and sees her hungry
fourteen-year-old son stow away enough for
three ordinary persons, according to her
estimates. she sighs audibly and suggests
that ''one helping ought to be enough"
growing muscles and bony structure and
vital organs. All are crying for more
fuel. and with the boys hearty. exercise
and vigorous growth comes this imperious
plenty Of it. 1t is not a question of how
little, but of how much, he can be per-
suaded to consume and digest II he would
attain the full measure of the man he ought
to be.
Plain, wholesome food, such as meat,
eggs. milk. cereals and legumes. cooked
well. ought. with the boy who has plenty
of exercise. to produce a man who can en-
dure the strain of life, without breaking
sometimes begins in the unwise effort of
the female portion of the family TO ecOno-
mize in the table fare. Meat IS expensive.
therefore we will find it's substitute"
given the place of honor at the breakfast
table. Hungry boys are set down TO a meal
of uncooked fruit, an orange 1t may be, and
a dish of oatmeal, and then sent off to
school or to work on this indigestible COM
bination. The orange is good enough at
the right time and place. and so is the thor
for a broiled steak on a winter morning
they are a complete failure.
All the morning long at his work the
young fellow has this indefinable gnawing.
He cannot tell whence IL comes. but ii is
there. and he only knows 1t remains there
until IL is relieved by a supply of food. If
noon brings him a sandwich and a piece of
pie he must still wait until a 6 o'clock
dinner. when the exhausted system has
begun TO draw on itself. No amount eaten
at that hour can make up for the loss OF
the other two meals, especially if this one
Is presided over by the gentle mother VINO
cannot understand how anybody can eat
so much.
Sometimes the fault lies in a want OF
knowledge on the part of her who plans
the food as TO what will supply the sys-
TEN with the needed nourishment. Day
after day there may be a surplus Of
starchy food. Again there may be a guam
tity of bulky material. loading down the
digestive apparatus and doing little more
than that. Soup and pickles and salad
may make a filling meal. but not a last
ing one. no matter how daintily served.
y healthy appetite will crave the roast
OF beef or leg of mutton with vegetables
and fruit. The wise mother will study
10 make the essential dishes appetizing
instead CT giving the greater time and
thought TO the side dishes and dessert.
The gymnasiums are doing what they
can TO build UP muscular strength for the
young men. but no physical director can
train an athlete out of a slim, undeveloped.
underfed boy. No amount Of exercise or
bicycle riding will do 1t II the food supply
is low.
Spurgeon's quaint words fifty describe
the situation: The coddled child is the
sickly child Mother is afraid the wind
should blow on her darling. and so she
keeps the fresh air away from him. Poor
dear, Do him up in lavendarl Take care
that YOU do not soon have to do him up
in elm,
Who killed poor Sam?
His ma called him lamb
And with treacle and jam
She killed poor Sam.