A BALANCED DIET

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXII, Issue 8869, 5 February 1943, Page 1

A BALANCED DIET

ESSENTIALS FOR A CHILI) POSITION IN NEW ZEALAND [Contributed by Miss E. Hitchcock, Nurse-in-charge School Dental Clinic, Paeroa. Extrasts from an article by Dr. Muriel Bell.] A day's diet for a child should not, be short of any one of the essentials, for proper growth and nutrition and contain those foodstuffs which make up whai: is termed a “balanced diet. Suppose we say that a day’s loud should contain meat, milk, eggs, green vegetables, potatoes and root vege tallies, whole cereals, butter and other fats and raw fruits and see whether it is short, of any necessary item. Ibis list of foodstuffs gives a variety of foods and, indeed, it is desirable boln from the point of making the food interesting and from the varying contributions it makes ol dietary essentials. to include a fair number of foodstuffs, as a rule. We have procr icily. Now, milk contributes ncu the form of meat, milk and eggs chiefly. How, milk contributes not only protein of good quality, but also lime and phosphorous. It is, howevei, short of iron. This iron defect will be remedied by including some whole cereal, like wholemeal bread and oatmeal, egg-yolk, some vegetables and some meat. The meat provides good protein, flavour which stimulates the How ol gastric juice and also materials in addition to iron for making red corpuscles. The whole cereal contributes a large quota of vitamin HI. the milkami eggs supply vitamin B'd. Calcium and phosphates come from the milk and to a lesser extent from the eggs, while calcium is supplied to some extent by vegetables. Vitamin A comes from milk, eggs, butter, carrots. Roughage is contributed by oatmeal, wholemeal bread, vegetables, fruit. Vitamin C will come from raw fruit and from potatoes il they are properly cooked. In the above dietary, there is too little vitamin D. Ordinary food contains very little of this vitamin without which there is imperfect calcification of teeth and bones. Unless plenty lof sunlight falls on the skin which is

usually impossible for at least, halt the year, this vitamin will be inadequately supplied until fish liver oil is added to the diet. This is essential in i he case of children, young adults and pregnant and nursing mothers. When this dietary is compared with the average New Zealand intake of foods we find that the New Zealand diet falls short in several more particulars. It contains more meat than is necessary which diminishes the intake of milk and other calcium containing foods like cheese and eggs; it contains too little whole cereal, for DO per cent, of the people eat white bread; this must mean that too little vitamin B for optimum nutrition is vitamin B for optimun nutrition is nated by the high intake of sugar and confectionery; it includes too little fruit and raw vegetables. I Inis if errs in many and cannot lu\ i.-laim to bcin; unbalanced diet.”