Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-01-03
Food for Children

instructor replied that she could hardly
conceive of diet being too simple.
"Well.' replied the mother, "Dr. H,
an authority on the care of children.
recommends u certain amount of meat
and fruit for child of three years.
have a three-y ear-old boy, who abso-
lutely refuses to eat anything. but milk,
the various cereal gruels, bread and
| crackers. / cannot induce him to eat
| either meat or fruit, and l don't know
whether it is good for him or not
| Perhaps that might be rather too
| simple, replied the instructor. Il had
| nephew once who ate no meat until
he went away to school, as a boy of
| fourteen or fifteen. He was obliged to
conform to conventional diet then, or
! go hungry; but throughout his child
hood he refused any meat. His par
ents were concerned about it, and
tried to induce him to eat as the other
children did. But SO great was his dis
! like of meat that he would refuse to
swallow it after it was placed in his
| mouth. But he was so perfectly
| healthy. robust, active in all games,
| and, moreover, so sweet tempered, that
his parents finally decided that his diet
was suited to him, and ceased to inter-
| fere with him. They thought that, as
Il child, he had a sweeter temper and
j better disposition than any of the rest
| of the children, and they We're disposed
TO credit it to his vegetarian diet.
Nov that they are all grown, how
| ever, he finds that he is shorter than
any of his brothers or sisters. The
| shortest girl in the family is feet 5
| inches and the tallest 5 feet s inches,
and the other boys run up to feet and
over. while this boy is only 5 feet
inches. 1t gives him a stunted appear
ance, which is matter of regret.
| Whether it is due to his vegetariansm
we, of course, cannot tell, but it seems
possible, because in every other way
| his bringing up was like that of all the
rest"
"And how about his disposition
now?" inquired the listener.
There is nc apparent superiority now
said the instructor, smiling; they are
all nice boys
Speaking of indigestion, the instructor
said: indigestion may be compared 10
| a fit of the sulks on the part of a child.
You see the child pouting, but you can
scolded, he may have been prevented
from doing something he likes, or any
one of q dozen things may be the matter.
So in Indigestion, you see only result.
1t may arise from a disorder of the
rancreas, or of the liver, or of the in
testines, of the stomach, and of the
latter troubles there are six different
varieties. Different constitutions de-
mand different diets and different modes
of treatment. You cannot follow dog
matte rules as to diet: You only know
good, and that if there is trouble Won
must find out what it is. People who feed
their children with exceeding care are
often concerned over the delicacy of the
digestion of such children. l spent last
Thanksgiving with friend who ha
brought Up her children according to the
strictest hygienic rules. That day she al
lowed them to have mince pie for the
first time in their lives-just little finger
pieces. They were i'll all night and few
erish all the next day. And yet children
who. had been brought up on the most
unwholesome food would consume vast
triangles of pie with impunity. But this
only showed that such food acts as actual
poison upon the delicate organs of
child brought up in a natural way, while
the others are accustomed to it as the
human system may be accustomed to
any poison taken habitually. But when
these children are thirty, forty, fifty and
sixty the value of hygienic diet in child
hood will become apparent in the years
demanding the greatest toll and produc-
tiveness they will never be victims of
Indigestion. Feed a child hygienically I'M
til he is fifteen. and after that you can
give the stomach anything in reason
Does that mean to restrict the guam
tity as well as the quality? My boys eat
so much that sometimes it really seems
as if their legs were hollow said one
woman, in discouraged tone.
IF you have the quality right you
needn't mind anything about the guam
tity,' said the instructor. No child
should ever be stopped from eating bread
and butter. mean that just as long as
he will eat plain food let him eat Never
butter
meals; but never let him have anything
that tickles the palate at such time
Boys are always hungry when they get
home from school Don't let them 20
| in the pantry to forage in the cake box
or doughnut jar If they aren't hungry
enough to eat bread and butter. let them
go without. But a growing boy needs
great dead of plain food. tie can have
| from eight to twelve ounces of meat
twice a day with perfect safety. The
developing muscles and tissues will use
it all Let him eat plain food just as
| long as he will eat. but don't let him
! top off with some dainty that will tempt
| his palate when his appetite is really
satisfied. You can trust the appetite;
you can't trust the palate. 1t is never the
| appetite that makes gluttons and gour-
.nands. 1t is always the palate
| ONE one asked as to milk a beverage
| for children.
Milk should never be regarded as a
beverage replied the instructor. 1T is
| solid food the moment it reaches the
/
| of as solid food in the meal. chilG who
| is eating heartily of meat or other nu-
! tritious foods should not drink milk with
his meals 1t sips down so easily that
it does not seem food at all. and. inme'
! diately becoming solid food, the stomach
| is overloaded. But if the child does not
eat much meat, or has poor appetite,
encourage him to use much milk as
beverage 1t will supply the required
nourishment, and he does not need to
eat so much as other children. But teach
him to sip it, a little at time 1t should
not be drunk in one long draught, be-
cause then it forms a great mass of curd
in the stomach, which the gastric juices
have trouble in penetrating, and which
therefore often lie in the stomach an in
digested mass. Taken swallow at
time it makes small curds, which can be
readily acted upon by the gastric juice.
This is often the reason why dyspeptics
and others cannot take milk at all.
That's the reas son that lime juice or
brandy in milk renders it digestible.
They cut the curds. and enable the gas
trio juice to get at them.