OUR BABIES

Grey River Argus, 20 March 1940, Page 12

OUR BABIES

[By Hygeia.l Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice, than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.” FEEDING THE TODDLING CHILD. There used to be a tendency among parents to think that, once a child could sit up on a chair and use a spoon and fork like an adult, that there was no need to think over his diet any more. He should be able to take “pot luck” with the rest of the family, and everything he could swallow he could also digest and assimilate.

Nowadays we know better than that, and we choose for the young child only simple, nourishing foods, prepared in ways that will suit the childish digestive organs. The principles of good nutrition are very easy to understand easy to remember, and easy to put into practice too. Diets for children over a year must contain all the essential constituents for the needs of a growing, active body. Those needs, very briefly, are:—

(1) Protein for growth, found in eggs, milk, fish and meat. (2) Carbohydrates for energy, found in sugars, starchy food, such as flour and oatmeal and wheF(\meal, fruits, and root vegetables. (3) Fat for heat and stored energy, found in butter, cream, fat meat and oily fish. (4) Minerals for building special tissues; calcium and phosphorus for bones and teeth; iron for blood; iodine for the thyroid gland to prevent goitre. These are the chief minerals, and while only small amounts of each are needed, their work is so important that ill-health is very speedily caused by even a shortage of them in the diet. They are found principally in milk, eggs, unrefined cereals, such as coarse oatmeal or wheatmeal, green vegetables, and fish. (5) Vitamins: Special life-giving substances found in fresh fruits and green vegetables and the products of animals fed on these.

(6) Roughage: Some coarse food which is not digested, and therefore causes a bulky mass in the intestines and so aids elimination.

sgo.fi Nm::ao .tloifiOsca(,he aC( ' (7) Water to carry nourishment to the tissues, and waste products along to the excretory organs. From this list it may be seen that a child over one year should have some greens as well as root vegetable, plenty of milk, and fruit every day, and eggs and fish and meat occasionally, to give everything necessary. Before we consider in detail how to give these elements to the little child, there are one or two other points we should consider. COOKING. Having selected foods for the day from the groups above, it is important to see that they are prepared in such a way as to save all the good in them and give them a good flavour. Vegetables and fruits should be cooked in their skins whenever possible, as minerals and vitamins are present just under the skin, and would be thrown away with the peelings. Steaming is better than boiling, and cooking in a casserole or in waterproof paper better still. Always remember that vegetable water should be used for making gravies or soups, and that baking soda destroys nearly all the good in any green vegetable. SERVING. Food should be served attractively to create appetite. Pretty linen and china go a long way towards making the meal attractive, and the extra trouble will be more than repaid when little children eat everything set before them. The child who sits at the adults' table may become dissatisfied with his own simple fare, and get the taste of foods that are not good for him. But he will not want what he never sees, so let him have his own little table and chair and learn to set and clear it himself. He will soon take pride in showing his mother how well he can work. I He should have three meals a day, I

with no pieces between them, and the largest meal at midday. Always give him as much water as he wants up to 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., and see that the three meals are sufficient for his needs.

Hard food at every meal is necessary, too, so that teeth arid jaws get proper exercise. Each meal for the toddler should begin with a hard crust of oven-dried bread. It is easy to prepare, and better than bought rusks, which contain too much sugar and other ingredients which may harm the teeth. Give the crusts at the beginning of the meal when he is hungry, and never in between times as playthings. They can be buttered, and the small child learning to chew must be supervised while he has one, as small pieces might break off and choke him. When the child can chew well, give brown bread and butter at one meal of the day. White bread is necessary when he is young, but after fifteen months wholemeal bread could be given if he can chew well and has a good digestion.