The Delta independent., 1908-03-06
The Diet of Children.

meals should be discouraged, although
glass of milk is usually good for the
child and plenty of water should be
taken during the day. Nothing can
take the place of milk. 1t is nearly
perfect food, and the majority of chill
dren can take and digest it. A child
should never take glass of milk and
drink it hastily. 1t should be slipped
slowly or it will form large lump in
the stomach Care should be taken to
have the milk fresh and clean. 1t is
fruits at the same time.
A child may take from three to four
glasses of milk a day with perfect
safety.
Cream is good but should not be very
heavy. Sometimes children have very
rich cream poured on their cereal and
it is often the cause of bad breath and
a coated tongue.
A mixed diet is good for most chill
dren.
Eggs are also valuable food, but
should never be fried. The white of
the egg is very digestible. Many peo
pie think that eggs cause biliousness;
but this is not the case, if the eggs are
cooked carefully. They should not be
boiled, but should be put into boiling
water and placed in a covered vessel
which stands on the kitchen table.
Cereals are particularly good, but
they must be properly cooked. In
cooking prepared cereals, such as oat-
meal and wheat, they should be cooked
three or four times longer than the
time given on the box. If the cereal is
properly cooked, it is usually well di-
gested. Rice, oatmeal, or any of these
preparations, in order to be well di-
gested, should be cooked at least three
hours and half. Corn starch used as
soup or made into pudding should be
cooked at least thirty minutes. Do not
put too much sugar on cereals One
half a teaspoonful to a saucerful is
what the leading physicians prescribe.
Fruits are very important and par
ticularly useful for their effect upon
the bowls.
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dren. Fruit should not be underripe or
overripe. In hot weather take great
care to select fruits that are in good
condition. Do not give the children
too mitch fruit. Fruit juice is good for
breakfast. Cooked fruits, such as
baked apples and prunes, are desirable.
Orange juice is excellent.
Do not give tea or coffee to any child
under ten years of age. 1t is far better
not to give it until they are much older.
Cocoa is good drink.
While the child is young it should
learn to eat in the right way. That is,
to eat the right kind of food, at regular
hours, to eat slowly, and to chew the
food thoroughly. Many children half
chew their food. If child learns bad
habits in eating while young, it often
takes years to overcome them.
In case of disease the amount of food
should be greatly reduced, and where
there is fever no solid food should be
given. The same rule is good in hot
weather; give less solid food and plenty
of water.
Children should not touch sausage,
salted meat, or pork, until they are ten
years of age. Meats, such as mutton
chop, white meat of a chicken or beef
steak is good once day. Fried meat
should never be given to children.
Bread should be thoroughly dried in
oven until it is crisp. Children do not
always like this, but soon become ac
customed to it. Mutton and chicken
broth with rice, soups made of peas or
for children over eight years old. The
baked potato is very easily digested and
may be given to small children.
Stewed celery and spinach are two
of the best vegetables for children.
They should be thoroughly cooked and
mashed or put through sieve. Chill
dren between three or four years of
age may begin to eat vegetables if the
vegetables are properly cooked. Cab
bage and corn should never be given to
a young child.
As for desserts, small amount of
ice cream, simple puddings. or custards
or baked fruits.
In preparing a school luncheon, have
variety. Always have sandwiches and
have them made of different kinds of
bread. One day white, the next whole
wheat, the next brown. and perhaps a
little baking powder biscuit the last day
in the week. There are so many good
nourishing sandwich filings. And
mothers can very easily find number