OUR BABIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21984, 20 June 1933, Page 14

OUR BABIES

By Htoeia.

Published under the. auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of AVomen and Children (Pluhket Society).

"It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom”

THE CHILD WHQ " WON’T EAT.” The science and art of feeding children has advanced so far during the present generation that few infants need now perish through failure on the part of parents or guardians to suit the diet to the requirements of the individual child. Within the memory of us all the mortality rate of infants under one year of age has been reduced SO per cent., and now, among our well-cared-for people, the death of an infant from feeding difficulties is so unusual as to be almost a public calamity. Following this satisfactory achievement,, then, one would strive through proper hygiene and dietary measures to develop each child to his maximum of physical perfection. ' The unexpected factor acting as a check on the attainment of these ideals is the refusal of many children to. eat the amount or kinds of food prescribed. It seems hard to say that in. the majority of cases it is the parents themselves who create these problems, but such is the fact. Too great solicitude on the part of parents and undue: attention to the matter of meals actually creates fussiness and “finickiness” in the child. Children brought up in. families tend to present fewer problems than “only” children. The mother in her very anxiety to do the best for . the child imparts an element of emotion to matters of everyday living, -which at once reacts on the child, and creates within him an undue 1 sense of importance and tends to upset his equilibrium. <

There are just three reasons why a child will not eat.

■ First; :■ He is sick. No .one (adult er child) will eat when, he is_ sick. During illness the digestive capacity is lowered, and refusal of food is Nature’s signal that food is not required. ' The child who is not well should. not be forced, coaxed, or cajoled to take food. If food is “ gotten in ” when anyone is ill there may easily arise a distaste for that .food which lasts for months or years.

The second reason for not taking food is that the child is not hungry-for food at that, particular meal time. Generally speaking, the normal child in a healthy, normal environment is a hungry child with a good appetite. A very few children are naturally small eaters, but in the majority of cases a;child who refuses because he is not hungry has bad. something to eat between meals. There is but one rule for this, and that is to STOP— absolutely stop all eating between meals, including sweets of any kind. Make sure that other habits are good also, particularly in regard to : (a) Bedtime—that it is regular and , early.■■ . •' ; ' ■ " 1 : ■ (b) Sleep and rest—that the-child is not ■ overexcited, and. tired. (c) The bowels—that the child is not constipated and that the motions are normal. (d) Outdoor exercise and fresh air—that he does not live or sleep in stuffy rooms.; ' "//'

iJust a few. words about these points before returning to the question of mealtime and.the child’s refusal of food. Many children definitely suffer from late and irregular bedtime and consequent lack of rest/and sleep. ■ It is sad td think of toddlers being tired, yet many undoubtedly do suffer from chronic fatigue, as shown by the marked improvement one often sees in general condition, including appetite for meals, when longer nights and daytime rest are/ insisted upon. Twelve hours in bed at. night,, and .at least an hour’s rest in a quiet room during the day should be the rule for toddlers. Constipation almost always causes, poor appetite, and it is fatal to good health generally. Children may be constipated in spite of thd fact that they have a daily bowel action, and mothers should notice that the motions are not bard, dry, or small. The third reason, is the most usual, and has its beginning in the other two. By not eating he gets something which he wants more •’ than food—to be important and the centre of someone’s attention. The child soon learns that by refusing to eat he gets much more attention than he does by “ being a good boy and eating his porridge.” Not only does he enjoy being the centre of attention at mealtime, .: but he ; enjoys being talked about afterwards. It is a distinction. “I am a peculiar boy., I don’t eat any porridge.” No healthy child will starve or, become' ■undernourished j if allowed to do without a ' few meals or go short for a time, uild a little genuine hunger will ' often work wonders, combined with the salutary lesson that the matter of meals is not so important to the adults as he thought. . Once thechild realises that he can simply take his food or leave it as far as anybody apparently cares, thd chances are that he will take it. One has to be careful,-of" course. A few children will hold out for a long time, or even seem to develop an habitually small appetite which cannot be allowed to go on. For such a stay* away from home, particularly if this can be with other hearty children, is certainly the best cure. (To be continued.)