HEALTH OF CHILDREN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, Issue LIV, 16 October 1920, Page 10

HEALTH OF CHILDREN

(published under the authority of the Education Department.; As a beverage for children tea should be prohibited, L'p to the ago of tea years children should not bo allowed to drink it. It stimulates the nervous? system. The reverse is required with children under present conditions pi life. Children are more sensitive to stimulation and excitement than adults. Again, ten'is detrimental to the digestive system ifi children, and upsets the tegular action of important organs. Thirdly tea interferes with the cleansing action of the saliva so contributes to dental decay. Especially is this so woen taken with cake and biscuit and white bread, and not followed by a cleansing food such as apple. The evil effects ato more pronounced when th© tda has been allowed to infuse for too long a time. It may be asked what may be given to children ns a drink in place of tea. Water, milk and water, and cocoa are quite suitable. It should be borne in’ mind, hdwevor, that too much milk may cause digestive trouble and loss of appetite. For a healthy child on a well-balanced diet more than one pint nf milk a day should not bo given, and less may suffice. Even if considered only from the point of view of its habit-producing effect in after years tea drinking should be prohibited till as late an ago ns possible. The morning and afternoon tea and eako habit is not only in the vast majority of eases wholly unnecessary and wasteful, but is . decidedly harmful. No healthy individual can claim to require nourishment as often as five or six times n day.