Imperial Valley press., 1936-10-25
Full Diet
Is Needed
By Child
Nutritional Reserve
Necessary for Its
Steady Growth
Nv LOGAN CLENDENNG, NJ. D.

N LOGAN CLENDENNG, NJ. d.
CHILDREN should have a steady
srowth rate. This applies to both
height and weight. There are, of
course, normal periods when these
rates are accelerated or retarded,
but, in general, at least up to the
age Of ten, the increase is contin-
uous and gradual.
To maintain this rate it is nec-
essary to have a nutritional re-
serve. There is nothing mysteri-
ous about this expression. The
food a child gets may be just
enough to maintain 1t in a state
of nutrition, just on the ragged
edge. Or, it may be of quality
and amount such as to saturate
the body's requirement for growth
and development. This is nutri-
tional reserve, which makes for
the steady growth rate desired
because when there is any inter-
ruption, such as an intestinal up
set or a fever, the body's reserve
is SUFFICIENT to carry it through
without interruption.
The diet requirements sufficient
to create this nItritional reserve
are somewhat different in children
than in adults because of the
growth factor. They are:
l. Energy requirement-the to-
tai amount of food must be great
er than at any later period of life.
2. Protein--four times as much
as adults.
3. Minerals-especially calcium,
phosphorus. iron and iodine.
4. Vitamins.
Water is left out of this discus
sion. for while water is an abso-
lutely necessary part Of an infants
diet, 1t does not come under the
heading of rutritional reserve.
What Foods Meet Needs?
The question you will immediate
ly want to know is exactly what
foods furnish these requirements.
That is easy to answer because,
under modern conditions of food
merchandising, it would be hard to
construct a diet which did not live
up to them. In only one or two
places is 1t necessary to take any
special pains In planning for GER
tain elements.
The total amount of energy re-
quired in infants food is three
times as much as in adults'-50
calories per pound per day for a
year-old infant. as against Is cal
ories per pound for an adult 40
years old. The large digestive ap-
paratus of the child takes care of
this extra food. If an adult were
to consume as much food in COM
parison to weight as an infant, he
would drink 10 quarts of milk and
eat two pounds of sugar a day.
For nutritional reserve, this ex-
ira total amount is the most i'm
portant feature of the child's diet.
The most frequent cause of NAL
nutrition in infancy is not lack of
any special element in the diet. but
simply in not getting enough food.
What foods this total energy will
come from are milk and sugar in
infancy, and in childhood the addi-
lion Of potatoes, eggs, cereals,
toast, orange juice, bananas, cream
and butter-in short, the carbohy-
drates and fats.
Other features of the nutritional
reserve diet will be considered to-
morrow.
y. c.: My wife was advised to
have her tonsils out. She has no
colds or throat trouble of any
nature. and is apparently not
bothered by the tonsils in any way
except that she is underweight.
(Age 29-- weight SO pounds). I
had my own tonsils removed a
year or two ago and derived no
benefit; in fact, my throat troubles
and colds have increased"
Answer: do not believe in the
removal of tonsils unless there is
a clear cut indication for it.
EDITOR $ NOTE Seven pamphlets
oy DR.. CJenceaing can now be OBJ
tanned by sending 10 cents IN coin