The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-09-10
THE CHILD WHO WILL NOT EAT

Several readers have contributed their ex | perience and observations to. the discussion ol | the management of the child who will not eat Mrs H. L.. H. writes:
 Referring to the mother who asked If there | is anything she can do after scolding, spank inr and locking in a closet have failed to make her child eat, wonder if she has giV- l en kindness fair trial? Has she trlea to
 think of providing variety of tempting | dishes to appeal to the appetite? Both or my | young daughters started to develop such
 complex about fooh. hit on the idea of tell | ing them we were going to have a tea party. l meal For instance I'd boil carrots or other | vegetables put them through potato ricer, pile them in high cones on the plates, ana call them some such name as Golden feaks. I used pretty glass plates and tinted glasses for milk. Often cut out pictures and pasted on bottom of plates, and the children actu- ally ate the vegetables they could see through the plate what picture was there These are just a few of the little things that any thoughtful mother can do to cultivate what you scientific experts call conditioned reflex something. Anyway, such treatment made our children eat.
 It is all good psychology and good sense A large factor in the lack of appetite and failure to eat is the wrong atmosphere at table. one good rule for every one is that there should be
 no discussion of the food or of any likes or dis likes, or of the poor or good appetite of any person present Other subjects should occupy
 the thoughts and attention of those at table. H. J. w. writes:
 do not agree with your advice to the poor | worried mother who is having a hectic time | getting her little girl to ca took our child to the best specialist .. watched her | subsist for days hardly more than mouthful of food and watched her grow thin | and . . specialist pronounced her
 healthy child, but subject to voluntary re. gurgitation I began given her small portions of things she must have, making big fuss when she would call for a second helping and sometimes special treats or per haps promised treat would be cancelled by her failure, but this policy succeeded and
 now at the age of eight she is a strong healthy girl.
 D. J. McN writes:
 l have two fine examples in the family, of the results of rival systems-to force and not | to force eating. When my first child became fnicky about her food she was promptly disciplined. The second one went on a hunger strike when she was years old. didn't try to compel her to eat. | did ask our doctor about her. He advised me to leave her alone, that children often go "off their feed" for a few months, but as long she free of any other symptoms it was better to pay attention. For year she lived mainly on cottage cheese, sardines and bacon, with some milk. Grandparents couldn't understand my phlegmatic attitude and one day forced her to take some soup. It made her sick. After the strike had gone for two years the doctor suggested preparation of malt syr- up She took to it like duck to water. By
 the time the first bottle of the malt syrup
 was finished the hunger strike was off? Of
 course it might have been over by that time
 anyway but it seemed to that the malt
 restored the chds appetite.
 A fresh malt is rich in Vitamin B. and Vita min E gives appetite and promotes the assim- ilation of food. Fresh yeast is even better me- dicine for the child who will not eat.
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Our Education Was All Ballcd Up
 Your plea to have algebra thrown out of the high school course and anatomy substituted is tine most absurd you have yet written. Why, man. don't you realize algebra is the basis for physics? Didn't you yourself have to study al- zebra before you studied physics in your pre- medical or medical school course? (A. R.)
 Answer-No. My educators had it all balled up. They tried to teach me algebra right along with physics in the first year in high school. Probably they didn't know any better. l still believe it would be a step forward in education If algebra were discarded and antony intro- duced into the high school curriculum.
 Not a Bad Little Baby Book
 of 70 cents. l have four prctcntious books on worth n nickel They all say 1t Is well tO use the sOapstcls ln the first few months of baby's life. tO regulate the bowels. Mrs A. D.)
 Answer--The authors belong to the soapstlck school of philosophy l have an asinlne notion that most any baby will run all right without olng or soaping If you have sufficient intelli- genea to let his machinery alone. The Brady Baby Book will be mailed to any reader who asks for it and inclosca dime and a stamped addressed envelope.