Evening star., 1941-08-21
Don't Force
The Child
TOEat
Scheduled Meals
Will Regulate
His Appetite
By A neeIo Patri

bt AngeIO ram
He won't eat for me-" is purely
American complaint. No other
mother in the world makes that
complaint. The answer is plain.
of course. He won't eat because
he is not hungry and needs no food.
So many mothers seem not to
understand that simple fact. ALL
ing children should not eat until
the physician examines them and
prescribes treatment and diet and
children who are not hungry
should not eat because they do
not need food. American children
are oftener overfed than not.
I happen to live in district
where there are many little chill
dren and it is not uncommon for
me to see a sturdy child, bursting
with health. pushed against the
wall a spoon thrust into his mouth
and his mother shouting, Eat, its
good for you. Eat" He turns his
head mutinously this way and that
and pushes the spoon from him
every chance he gets. His mother
appeals to high heaven, He won't
eat for me-"
Why should he eat for anybody?
Eating is a personal matter. The
child eats for himself, nobody else,
and the sooner he learns that the
better off he will be and the more
content his mother. Hunger is the
cause and the best sauce for appe-
tite. A hungry child will eat with
good appetite what is given him
and the answer to most of the
troubled mothers whose children re-
fuse food is: Let the child alone
until he is hungry.
All children should be fed on
schedule time. Little children need
to eat little and often. so that five
meals day are better for them
than three big ones. But let the
mealtime be regular enough to set
the rhythm of hunger in the child's
body. Stick to the schedule as
closely as possible. I don't believe
in railroad time for meals, but a
schedule close to that in regularity
will serve best. The child who
refuses food at the set meal time
is not to be fed until the next
one comes around just as he could
not get on a train until it arrived
at the station. Let him wait.
That is what most mothers can
not do. You don't like your cereal?
Maybe you'd like an egg? No?
Then mother will fix you some milk.
No? It's nice. With sugar? No?
Ill put chocolate in it and nice
straw. See, you can drink it out of
this nice glass with the COW on it.
Drink, like a good boy for mother"
That invites food fussing. Wise
mothers do not make that kind of
mistake. They set the table, on
time, place the food, make the oc-
casion pleasant and impersonal.
Impersonal is the important idea
here The child eats for himself,
for nobody else. If he refuses the
food excuse him from the table
pleasantly, remove it and give him
nothing until the next meal time.
You set a habit of hunger in the
child's body and that will attend
to his food needs far better than
you could do.
If after this routined treatment
q child consistently refuses food,
and you are certain he has not been
given anything between times, call
the childs physician. But be most
careful. most certain that you have
not set up an emotional back
ground at mealtime, for that is
something the physician cannot re-
move in a visit. That will require
reconditioning, a long, careful job.
Begin right, hold to the order and
the child will eat
Many children behave badly
because they are not properly
fed. Be sure that your own little
boy or girl forms correct eating
habits. Send for Angelo Patri's
booklet Eating" inclosing 10
cents in coin. Address Angelo
Patri, care of The Evening Star.