NUTRITIVE FOOD

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 132, 5 June 1937, Page 19

NUTRITIVE FOOD

NECESSITY FOR CHILDREN

ELIMINATING EXPENSE

When a limited income or an increased family brings up the problem of economy, the mother must realise that food must be the last thing in which to economise, states a writer in the "Sydney Morning Herald." Cutting

down the food costs must not mean the sacrificing of those foods that are so important for the child. Wise buying and selection will ensure better health and more contentment than will money spent on a larger quantity of food that only fills up and appeases hunger. It is most necessary that, the child's diet, in particular, should be of the best foods at the least possible cost, and the diet must contain a large proportion of those foods classed as protective foods, because they are responsible for building-up and protecting the body from ill health, lack of energy, and bad teeth.

The question the housewife has to encounter is, therefore, what food is good and also most valuable for growth, development, and general health, and what should be avoided as useless. Not only the child, but both mother and father, will benefit from a dietary composed of various nutritive constituents.

Food is not dependent on its prices for its quality," nor does a large quantity of poor food equalise a smaller amount of good food. Some of the most nourishing of all fods are obtained cheaply. So, understanding a few definite rules of diet, it is quite possible that the family can be fed in the best possible way with the least possible cost.

The essentials of a nutritive diet are milk and its products, meat, and eggs, leafy green vegetables, fruit, and cereals. Knowing that these protective foods must consi-iite the basis of the foodstuffs, it is very helpful if a budget of the household accounts be made each week, setting aside so much for each section of the foods.

First of all, the milk supply should be the last one to feel the strain of the times. One pint of milk should be allowed for the child under five each day, and at least half a pint for older children and adults. This would be £or drinks of milk, and the grown-ups' teas only; milk for sauces and puddings would have to be extra. It is not always recognised that skim milk powder provides an excellent substitute for fresh milk for cooking purposes, as it contains a rich supply of first-class protein, has a high mineral content, and is only deficient in fat, which can be easily compensated for by the addition of butter.

Eggs must take their place in the dietary—at least one apiece every week. Meat can be the most expensive item of the list, and very, often forms too large a part. With wise buying and recognition that it is not the cost of the. meat that is essential, but that the cheaper cuts are in every way as nourishing, provided they are properly cooked, this section will not be so hard to manage. Liver, heart, tripe, rabbit (brains and kidneys are more expensive, but should be included when possible), should take their place weekly in the menu, all being more valuable than the ordinary steaks, chops, roast, etc. A shin of beef with the valuable marrow in the bone, which needs chopping to expose the marrow, will make a more nutritious casserole or broth than stewing steak, and will be found just as palatable. LEAFY VEGETABLES. Perhaps another item which is more neglected than it should be is the inclusion of leafy vegetables in the daily menu. The back garden plot could produce cabbage, spinach—the green, silver beet, or New Zealand variety, all of which are easily grown, and are rich in minerals and vitamins—turnips, the green tops of which when cooked are really richer in mineral content than any other leaf vegetable—carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, with beans and peas in their respective seasons. The chief value of fresh fruits, like fresh green . vegetables, lies in their vitamins and minerals as well as the "roughage" necessary for stimulating and clearing the intestines. Of all fruits or foods, oranges can hardly be replaced, and should be given as a drink or fruit, every day, to the growing child.

A piece of apple daily, and a banana once or twice a week, can be supplemented by other fruit when in season. Sweets are unnecessary items, and enough sugar will be included in the ordinary cooking and preparation ot food to balance the diet sufficiently, though honey or golden syrup, in preference to jam, may be given as an extra.

Lollies are always expensive, and can be done without, but might be kept for a specialHreat on holidays. Nor must rice be overlooked as a most valuable addition to the dietary; cooked as a savoury, or creamed in milk, or even plain boiled with raisins added and eaten with brown sugar and milk, it will be found both nourishing and appetising. Wholemeal bread is strongly recommended for inclusion in the daily dietary, as well as a plate of some cereal at breakfast-time.