Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-14

Lunch for the School
Child A Talk With
Mrs. Harvey w. Wiley.
ENHE question of dietetics is one Of
tie leading topics of the day.
Never before was so much at
q tention given to what and when
to eat and how to prepare it. The re-
1ationship of foods to human welfare
is exploited at every turn, and the
greatest stress is at last being placed
where it should always have been-on
the food for the baby and the school
child
The baby is gradually coming to as
sumo his rightful place in the economic
scheme of the nation, for the govern
ment and its people have finally begun
TO realize that the most dangerous job
in the world is that of being a new
baby.
Thousands upon thousands of dollars
have been expended yearly on the con-
servation and Improvement of the cat
tie. and all the while the ba bies. the
real hope of the nation-its future
Citizens-were dropping needlessly into
their tiny graves at the appalling rate
of one out of every five in their first
year of life. The reason? Because less
intelligent, scientific care has been de-
voted to the human ba by than has been
allotted to the young pig,
Now. with awakened accusing con-
science. the government is putting
forth prodigious efforts to solve the
terrible baby mortality problem by
arousing and educating the parents of
the land TO a better understanding of
the needs and rights of their offspring
FIRST and foremost in the life prob
lem OF baby is the matter of it's food
This for the frst year of its life was
provided by nature. whose wisdom is
Endorsed by every medical expert and
institution of medical repute in the
world. SO strongly is the duty of nat
urally nourlshing her infant urged
upon the mother that her unwilling
ness TO do so is rated at nothing less
than criminal.
When this is an absolute impossible
ity. then the artificial foods should be
prepared according to the physicians
directions, as the notifications should
be made with view to each pa rticu-
lar child. Out of every 100 bottle-fed
babies an average of thirty die in their
FIRST year, while of the breast-fed
babies the ratio is much smaller. there
being only about seven deaths to each
100.
For the bottle baby. practically all
authorities agree that cows milk
should be used. and that wherever
possible certified milk should be secur-
Hd al nc nf
comfort TO the parents. When ii is not
possible to meet this expense, IL
should be a matter of obligation to
know that the milk is clean and pure
and from a tuberculin tested dairy.
Given the best milk obtainable. this
should be rendered powerless to affect
the baby through any lurking germs
by pasteurization. which is simply a
matter of heating the milk to a tenn
perature of about $50 degrees Fahren-
heit for thirty minutes. and then rapid
ly cooling it.
In order that every mother in the
land may understand the importance
and method of thus making her child
food germ-proof. the government has
put several OF its bureaus to work on
baby welfare matters. and they have
issued bulletins with specific direc-
fions formulate and even itemized
lists of expense on the simplest sea lie
for all OF the pa raphernalia necessary
10 carry baby through its first three
o. four years of life.
So complete are these bulletins from
The public health service. the chi1dren's
bureau and the Department of Agri-
culture. that the most ignorant, mex
perienced and inefficient girl mother
cannot fail TO care for her baby safely
and thoroughly with these for her
daily guide.
The public health service baby ex.
perts insist that the milk for the baby
should always be pasteurized in tbs
feeding bottles after they have beer
cleaned and sterilized by boiling then
Tor fifteen minutes. MIX should b.
mixed and poured into the bottles
enough for twentyfour hours beint
prepared at once. The bottle should
have clean cork or absorbent cotton
shoppers. The pssteurization may b.
do9e by any OF the good pasteurizinf
outfits on the market. though home
made pasteuriZer may he CONSTRUCTED
that will serve just as we'll
a wire basket that will hold all o