OUR BABIES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3047, 7 April 1917, Page 5

OUR BABIES

fBT HTOEIM

Published under the auspices of the Eoyal New Zealand Society ~for the Health of Women and Children. "It is wiser to put up a fence at the top.of a. precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." 'l ' . FOOD ELEMENTS FOR BABIES.' The elementary food .constituents needed tor babies are essentially. the 6ajrie as for adults, except that starch largely replaces sugar after the. first year, and fats.and albumens, derived mainly from plants, meat, fish, eggs, etc., tend to take the place, more or less, of the constituents derived', at first, solely from milk. The letters of inquiry .which' reach us regarding foods arid feeding show clearly that the generality of people know practically nothing as to the simplest first principles of dietetics, and one feels what a pity it is that we were-, given no instruction at school on this very important matter. Without some notion on the part of my readers as to the mere ABC of the sublet, it is very difficult: for me to give an intelligible answer to the various food,questioris which come to me from time to time. I have a collection of these hy me, and perhaps the most illuminating way of dealing with the subject will be to use;the question and* answer method, confining myself to normal feeding in the first nine months of life, thus avoiding reference to anything more than the simple constituents of, milk. ' ■■'.'■!■

'■ , FOOD COMPONENTS.' Question.—What are the essential eleaents of. a baby's food ? ' . Answer.—The normal food for-, a yOulng baby is mother's milk, winch consists of sugar,.fat, proteid, salts, ;. and'water. ' ■ '■ . -. ' : ' ".Composition' of Human Milk. In''loopz. of human milk there are', on he average: .. > Sugar:(known as "sugar of . : milk") .: '• • 7oz. . Fat • - 4oz. '> Proteid, also -called albu'menous, or '-'flesh-form- ' iug"' material) Hoz; .- . Salts ;» under Joz., ; ~ Water . ....:.....:.. ...».87Joz. .■■:..■ Total ,„.........V..'......./.'. lOOoz. ■' Question.—Are the : proportion's of the food.elements the same in cows milk as in mother's milk?. '. • Answer.-No; The total weight of . food '.present. is similar, but cows : milk- contains 5 per-cent., instead af 7 per cent.,' of- sugar, and from 3 to i per cent, of proteid, instead ot the average li per cent, found in human milk. ■•• j. • :: 'Composition of Caw's Milk. - In" lfifloz. of: cow's inilk. there are, on the average:;-. - .. ;■ ' ' I Sugar ;.,................--'•••; soz. . : ;.........'.. 3oz. to 4oz. ' Proteid .................. 3oz. to 4oz. Salts .;...........»......;..:.»•■ ]]?'" .•Water : about 8(oz. : . Total; •.'...■.!...'...,..........'..■.. lOOoz. - Question.-Is not cow's milk much "stronger" than human milk? ; I nave always understood that one had to dilute cow's milk before giving- it to a baby. Answer.—Cow's milk is not perceptibly "stronger" than mothers' milk, in "the sense of containing . 'more'food per pint ,for- nourishing, building, or burning purposes. Cow s milk' is stronger only . m the sense that the ourd (which: consists main- •■ ly of casein or proteid,. or flesh--forniiug -material) is coarser,.. harder, and less digestible: on tliifr-account cow's milk has to be diluted, and so thinned,,before- a baby's,stomach ' will tolerate it. - ' . Question—Does/the excess of hard curd or casoiu in cow's milk do any harm to the baby? . . ~, ''" . ;\ Answer—Yes, it. tends to, be .highly . /injurious in two ways, viz.:— : ,'■. : . (1) The delicate digestive organs become' 'overtaxed; and the ..baby, tends to suffer from indigestion and diarr- -. hoeaj' due partly to irritation and partly to the undigested .curd re- . maining in the bowel and tending to ' putrifj* there instead of being dis-solved,-aud absorbed into the blood., (2)'.lf two or three times'-as much casein.or proteid is absorbed as the . . baby can use for building purposes; the; excess has to be burned ; in the 'body,, and the waste' products must be got rid of by the kidneys, thus thrQwihg. excess 'of work. on these organs.and damaging them.'lf the kidneys fail in.'their task the waste, products of the proteid, which are highly poisonous, accumulate in the : system, and the gravest results may , follow. ' '...'■ \ : ■■ .; ' Question.— h there any means' .by which'these damaging effects of the use of' cow's milk in baby-feeding can be avoided? ■ .Answer.—Certainly;'..the quantity, of casein, '.proteid, or ' iiesh-foriuiug K material can be'reduced too the pro-, portion' i'ound in mother's milk by 'resorting.,-to tlie simple process known as ''humanising.",, The way to prepare . "humanised... 'milk" . is shown on pages 23 .and'2s: of .tlie .. .Society's- book,' "Feeding, and Care". of Baby"' N°t only is the proteid; 'reduced to the proper proportion in humanised milk, but what is left is rendered more digestibl? by the ad- ■ dition'of lime Water; and the sugar ■of milk ,is also .brought up. to the proper standard—in other ; words, mother's milk is imitated -as. nearly ■■■■ as .-possible—but no imitation • can ever be equal to the genuine article. Question.-fWould' human milk suit's calf?:'.', " Answer— Certainly' riot. A. calf is designed'to grow'nearly three times as quickly as a baby, and that is ' why Nature puts nearly tlnee times , the proportion of. proteid, or flesh- - forming material,'in cow's milk. Even . tbe coarseness of the'curd in cow's milk'.is'beneficial'for- the' calf,, because the ■■ practice 'tvhich its sto-. mach' gain's in. dealing with, this crude material enables it soon to ■cope with and.digest.grass, liivv, etc. ' We can never go far astray if we follow the lines of NatuTe.,Nature: never varies things without a purpose. '' y. ... :■ T trust. my: readers will cut out anc keep this article, as it is the first of i series,: and I--shall have to refer bad to it. . . . . ' . -

According to recent advice from London, Matron B..Nurse and.Stafc-Nurse M. Salt, of the No. 1 New Zealand j General Hospital, Broekenhurst, arc both at Sandwich for a rest. j

,Two girls of tbe Worser Bay School, Gwen Manthel and Ruth Fraser, have lately been selling marbles, marble hags, work bags, etc.,. to the .other children, in aid of the Red Cross. They have made altogether £1, which they "have handed to the lieadmastor for the Red. Cross Sewing Fund of tho school.

The Lyttelton "Times" states that a further batch of twelve girls from the local Telegraph School have been promoted and transferred to -the following offices:—Miss A. SI. Ki.tto, Palmerston North; iliss E. Corcoran, Hastings; Miss I. Higgs, Masterton; Miss A. .11. Darragh, Hawera; Miss I,L. E. Hull,.Feilding; Miss B. M. Richards, Taihape; Miss E. L. Doubleday. Stratford; Miss 0. J. S. Moonev, "ffaverley; Miss E. M. Roche, Eltham; Miss A. D. Steel, Eketahuna; Miss L. Pollard, Dartnevirke; Miss M. E. Riordan, Marton.

Mrs. Elizabeth Burns, of Roslyn, who died last week, was 95 years . of age. . She had been in the Dominion for 45 years, forty of which were passed in the Roslyn district. Her, family consisted .'of ■'eleven sons and' one. daughter, and there are 145 descendants in a 11—52 grandchildren, 77 great-grandchildren, and five great-great-grandchildren.

A. new task for women in England is that of lamplighters in the suburbs and districts. They are already being shown their duties, states a London daily ofN February 23.

Miss Jean Goi'e (Wellington), a pharmaceutical chemist, is at the New Zealand Hospital, -Walton-on-Thames, in her official capacity, and she hopes to remain there for the duration of the war.