Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1902-07-30
FEED BABY SLOWLY.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FAC
TORS IN CHILD REARING.
Reasons Why Food should Not he
Tumbled Rapidly Into the Little
Stomach-Advice Which Applies to
Grown Folks as Well as Babes,

1t to eat slowly.
Every groom knows and observes the
rule in the care of a horse that rapid
eating is fatal to digestion. There are
all sorts of patent hangers to prevent
the horse swallowing his oats too
| quickly. The man who has no patent
manager knows enough, when neces-
sary, to put stone in the manager,
I scattering the oats around it, SO that
the horse may be compelled to eat
slowly. If the horses inclination is
to gulp down water too fast, the care
full man will put big sponge in the
water, compelling slow drinking.
A child's appetite, when he is al
lowed to eat rapidly, is always in ex-
cess of his actual needs unless the
child is in bad health. The reason for
this is extremely simple. The child
Graves food because his body requires
to manufacture new tissue. He is
growing, and he must not only replace
the used up tissues that HIS daily life
destroys, but he must make new flesh.
new muscles, new bone and new blood
every day, adding weight and size.
The sensation Of hunger is not the
craving of an empty stomach, satisfied
as soon as the stomach Is filled; 1t Is a
craving that is felt by the nerves all
over the body. This craving cannot
possibly be satisfied until the stomach
has begun the work of transforming
the food into blood, flesh, muscles, etc. |;
consequently the sensation which we
call hunger persists long after the
child or grown person has rapidly alb
sorbed as much food as 1t really needs
A million foolish parents urge their
children to eat great deal and always
let them eat as much as they want to.
Yet all of these know that famished
man taken off wreck will eat himself
to death if allowed to do so. The very
hungry child goes to the same excess,
only in lesser degree. The great
ing, which kills 80 per cent of men be-
fore their time and which accounts for
80 per cent of children's diseases, is
slow eating.
Nearly all children eat too rapidly.
They do so by nature. Slow eating is
a matter Of education. But too often
the mother or the nurse teaches the
child the habit Of eating fast When
the baby is little. it is fed one spoonful
at time. Before 1t has time to half
chew or even gulp down the first tea
spoonful of food another is held to it's
lips. OF course it swallows what it
has in it's mouth and seizes upon the
next mouthful. The habit thus incul-
Gated by foolish adults often ruins the
child permanently.
Four factors count In the healthy as
similation of food. factors which par
ents and nurses should remember. As
Stunning the food to be properly prepar-
ed, thoroughly cooked and wisely Sc
lected, ther comes. first, the work of
the teeth. which prepare the food for
easy digestion: second. the action of
the saliva, with which the food must
be thoroughly mixed In order to mini
mize the necessary work of the gastric
Juices in the stomach; third. the work
Of the stomach itself; fourth, and most
important, a proper supply Of blood
and of heat.
Force your child to chew slowly and
thoroughly every mouthful. If moth
ing else will do, compel him at fire.
quent intervals to lay down his knife
and fork that the Importance of pro-
longed chewing may be impressed upon
him. Don't allow your child to -gulp
down water or any other liquid with
his solid food. If you allow him to
drink while he eats. the salivary
glands will not act. They will not
need to act. for he will be able to swal-
low his food easily when it is made
moist by water.
You can't do anything to help along
the unconscious process which goes
on in the stomach, but you can do ev-
erything to help that process by at
tending to the fourth necessity. which
demands blood and the heat of the
blood in the. stomach. Allow no. child
after eating to take violent exercise,
to study or even toGread an exciting
book. The brain has first cali upon
the service of the heart. and as soon
as the brain is excited the blood leaves
the stomach and goes to the head. The
muscles also when too violently ex-
erted draw the blood away from the
stomach.
1t is absolutely impossible for child
or a grown person to digest properly
or to get strength and vitality. from
what he eats unless for at least half
hour after eating the stomach be al
lowed to monopolize the blood supply.
Children should be kept quiet in
some way, especially very young chill
dren. after they have eaten. In the
case of very young babies nature at
tends to this mercifulIy by making
them so to sleep as soon as they have
absorbed their milk. Older children
ought not to so to sleep directly after
eating for physiological reasons which
may be explained at some other time;
but they ought to be quiet and calm.
Tens of thousands of children In homes
where this newspaper is read are ruin
ed in healt by studying right after
meals. The public school system
which gives children too short rest