Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-30
Your Baby and Mine
BIZ MYRTLE MEYER ELDRED.


One approaches the supJcct VI ''en
cts with trepidation. 1t Is a question
upon which there are so many con-
lectures that 1t ill behooves any one
to set down any fact for fear that
within the month it will be proven
erroneous. We know that ricketts, Is
a. disease caused by the inability of
the body to extract sufficient calcium
and phosphorus from the food to fur
nish the bones and teeth with an ade'
auate supply. The result is that the
bones are so soft that they bend and
the teeth fail to appear. or when they
do appear decay easily.
What causes ricketts, we 90 not
know exactly. Sometimes it is be-
cause the child is getting a diet poor
in calcium and phosphorus. But chill
dren do develop ricketts, in spite of a
good diet, cod liver oil. sunlight and
everything. That is what makes the
cause" of ricketts, such a debatable
point.
Those Most Disposed.
All kinds of children get ricketts,.
the rich. the poor, the nursing and
the bottle baby. but there are certain
classes who are more than ordinarily
disposed to 1t. For instance. children
of the darker races. especially negro
children. Children who live in dark
rooms and who do not get the benefit
of plenty of air and sunshine. Chill
dren who are fed exclusively on the
breast after 8 or 10 months OF age.
Children who are fed on patent foods
which are lacking In essential ele-
ments. Children who don't get milk
after they stop nursing. Children who
get nothing but milk during the sec
ond year and lack all the other foods
necessary to their proper growth.
So, if your baby falls in any of these
classes he is more disposed to ricketts,
than the baby. we will say, whose
mother gave him orange juice and
cod liver oil at the age Of months
and on. Who had vegetables and
cereals and egg yolk added to his diet
at months of age. Who was
weaned. as he should be- at 9 or 10
months of age and who after that
had from a pint to a quart of milk
daily, and in addition cereal eggs,
vegetables and fruits.
Characteristic Symptoms.
This is the way a mother may know
that baby has a tendency to ricketts,:
II he cannot hold his head up at s
months of age. If he has no teeth
by the time he Is 1 year of age, If
he fails to stand alone or try to walk
by the time he is IA months old If,
when he does walk. he Is decidedly
bow-legged. Some children have a
tendency to bowlegs and still do not
have ricketts,. In that case every other
sign of proper development would be
present.
Children with advanced cases of
| ricketts, show square heads, pigeon
breasts, bow-legs and knock knees,
row of little knobs at the end of the
| ribs which have been called the
rachitic rosary: enlarged ankle and
| wrist joints, very large pot bellies and
| caved-in chests. All Of these signs
may not be present. but enough of
| them to be noticeable will be.
The Cure.
The diet must be corrected. For
| the nursing baby the addition of cod
| liver oil and orange juice. sunshine
and a fuller diet. A correct milk for
| mula mot a patent food, but fresh
| milk, sugar and Water). for the bottle
DdUy. LBS Yum, DcBlHIlIlS DIS early
as the fourth month. Always cod
liver oil for the nursing, the bottle
| baby or the baby on a general diet.
The first for prevention, the latter
| for cure.
If the baby isn't cured in from six
| weeks to two months, he will need
other individual treatment and other
drugs.
Ricketts, can be prevented by being
careful of the baby's diet early in life
seeing that he gets the right foods
and that he gets cod liver oil and
plenty of good, cheap sunshine. Sun.
light helps the body make use of the
calcium and phosphorus that is in the
! food. So that food, cod liver oil and
sunlight are at present time our best
methods of both prevention and cure
because ricketts, can be cured, and the
disease Is taken in time before the
| bones have become set in their de
formtty.
Mrs. c. H.:
I shall try to write an article on
/ tonsils soon. Tonsillitis can be dan
| gerous. and certainly a tonsil that is
so infected that there is pain and an
abscess like boil is far from a harm
less thing. Such tonsils are better
| out than in.
Prices realized on Swift & Compan,
| sales of carcass beef in Washington. D. C.
cents to. 1900 cents per pound and average
f2r Hee sns ending r satu5day AsEHs e. 1928
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