The Farm Home and Kitchen

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 61, Issue 2, 15 August 1940, Page 155

The Farm Home and Kitchen

Contributed by the Association for Country Education

Health-giving Meals Which Lay the Right Foundation in the Child's Life

THE first few years of a child’s life are important. The foundation for his physical well-being is laid, and he is forming habits that will help to shape his later years. These “younger years” will never come again, and, if neglected, irreparable harm may be done. It is important that the foundation be strong and the habits desirable so that a 'healthy, happy life will be possible. A few homes may not be able to supply everything that is deemed necessary for optimum growth, but the fundamentals for good nutrition are within the reach of everyone. Getting adequate, sleep, having regular meals, playing in the sunshine and drinking enough water are more dependent on a wise mother than on a definite outlay of money, and the foods essential for health can be purchased even on a limited budget if knowledge and judgment are used in the selection. . . our present advice is that at least one-half of the needed calories be taken in the form of a protective foods. (Milk and its products, fruits, vegetables and meats.) We think it well to add to the secondary suggestion that (unless there is i definite individual reason to the contrary) at least one-half of what- \ ever breadstuffs and cereals are consumed be in the ‘whole-grain’ or ‘dark’ or ‘unskinned’ forms. These two • suggestions ‘ take account of all known nutritional factors. . . .” Dr. Henry C. Sherman. Build meals for the pre-school child (two to six years old) around milk, vegetables, fruit, and whole-grain cereals. Small servings, with second and third helpings if desired, are better than servings that are too large.

BREAKFAST (7 to 8 a.m.). Hot cereal with milk, such as oatmeal or whole-wheat. Tomato juice, J cup, or half an orange. Or \ , Cooked fruit, as prunes or stewed apples. Bread or toast with butter. Milk to drink, 2-3rds of a cup. MIDDAY MEAL (12 to 1 p.m.). Potato —plain boiled, mashed, baked, scalloped, or in soup. One other vegetable, choosing from: * Carrots White turnips , Marrow. * Other greens. ’ Onions. * Cabbage Beets. *French beans *Lettuce *Peas Dried split peas. *Tomatoes Dried beans. * Yellow turnips Dried lentils. . (The vegetables marked * are especially recommended. Use them frequently, one or another at least three times a week.) One boiled, scrambled, poached —three times a week. (A small piece of liver, meat or fish may be given on other days if desired, especially for the older children in this group.) Bread or toast with butter. Milk to drink, 2-3rds cup. Simple dessert, if desired, such as tapioca, cornstarch, rice or bread pudding, fruit sauce, banana. SUPPER (to 6 p.m.). Potato (or other vegetable). i Milky soup. Creamed vegetable. I Choose Sliced banana with milk. f on e. Hot cereal * with milk. Milk toast. )

Bread or toast and butter. Milk to drink, 2-3rds cup. Cod-liver oil, 1 teaspoon daily.

It may seem desirable to have a light mid-morning or mid-afternoon lunch, perhaps both for a very active child, if they do not spoil his appetite for his regular meals.

Toast or bread and butter. ) Choose Half an apple or banana. k „„„ Small cup of milk. I

Suggestions The general plan of meals is suit-

able for all children in the two to six-year-old group, although the older ones will need a large “total amount.” Give them larger servings of milk, potatoes, cereals and bread. . .

The meals as outlined include 1| pints of milk daily. Part or all of it may be in the form of dried . skimmilk, which provides the same growth material as fresh milk.

Regularity in meal hours is very important. If mid-morning and afternoon lunches are given they, too, should be at a regular hour.

Every child should have a small amount of tomato or orange or apple daily. When cooked or dried fruit is given at breakfast, tomato or orange should be given at the mid-day meal or at supper.

Whole-grain bread and cereals contain more growth-promoting and health-protecting factors than white bread and refined cereals. Use the dark ones at least half of the time.

Day-old bread and toast provide desirable exercise . for the mouth. Raw carrots, yellow and white turnips and apples are also valuable in small

amounts for the older children in this group. Give cod-liver oil daily all the year if the budget permits. ’ A teaspoonful daily should give protection, although a larger amount will do no harm. One teaspoonful daily for three months is probably better protection than three teaspoonfuls daily for one month, although the same amount of oil will have been used. Cocoa, tea and coffee are stimulants which a child does not need and is better without. The cocoa provides a little food value, and tea and coffee do not. If a “bait” must be given a child to assure his drinking milk, a very small sprinkling. of cinnamon and sugar is better than cocoa, tea, or coffee.

In a healthy child appetite is usually a good guide for the amount be should eat. Children should have potatoes once or even twice a day. They provide better growth material than bread and cereal products, such as rice and macaroni. Small amounts of left-over cooked vegetables can be used to make “milk soup.” Add milk, butter and a little flour to thicken it, if desired, and heat, and the small amount a child needs will be ready. ' ' • Sugar provides nothing of value for health and growth, and the less children have of it the better. Sweets, if any, should be given only after a wellbalanced meal has already been eaten.

The vitamin-content is as follows:—. Vitamin A, excellent; vitamin B, good; vitamin C, none; vitamin D, none; vitamin G, excellent. The heavy black lines indicate a . child’s needs for one day. The broken lines indicate the proportions of each factors furnished by 1| pints of milk,

Summary ; ' . When a three-year-old child has 11 pints of milk he has half the calories, all the protein, more than enough calcium, most of the phosphorus, and about one-third the iron he needs for that day. He is generously supplied

with vitamins A and G, and has some vitamin B, but vitamins C and D must be supplied by other sources. . The remainder of his needs may be met by adding these foods* daily:— 2 tablespoons orange or tomato, which furnish , vitamin C. 1 potato, which furnishes calories and iron. 1-3 cup cooked vegetable, which furnishes iron and vitamins A, B, G. 4 prunes, which furnish calories and iron. f cup whole grain cereal, which furnishes calories, iron, and vitamin B. 3 slices whole- bread, which furnishes calories, iron, and vitamin B. i egg (or one on alternate days), which furnishes protein, iron, and vitamin A. 1 tablespoon butter, which furnishes calories and vitamin A. Cod-liver oil, which furnishes vitamins A and D.

*Each of these foods furnishes other factors, but they are especially important for those mentioned.