FEEDING THE CHILD

Are You Feeding Your Family Intelligently?

An infant deprived of mother's milk, to which the par- tially developed digestive system is adapted, must be fed with the greatest care and intelligence. There is nothing "just as good" as mother's milk.

But since many children have to be weaned or partially weaned even in the early months of the first year, the mother must know what to feed and how to feed her baby.

Cow's Milk the Best Substitute for Mother's Milk at Our Disposal. — Cow's milk to be safe for the baby, must be clean and free from adulterants, must be free of dis- ease germs, must be relatively fresh (under 36 hours), must be kept cold after production.

If the cow whose milk you feed your baby is not kept on your own premises, get certified milk or the best grade of pasteurized bottled milk. Otherwise always scald milk before using it for the baby. Where fresh milk cannot be obtained, milk powder (dry milk) is the best form of canned milk for infant use. (The Dry or Brand Milk Powder obtained from the Dry Milk Co., 19-27 Park Row, New York City, is highly recommended.)

General Character of the Diet — Food must contain plenty of the right sort of material to build up and re- pair the living tissues of the body; enough material to use as fuel to furnish energy for heat and work, an abundance of mineral material and the little known sub- stances which regulate body health and growth.

Children, like all young animals, require more growth or body-building material relative to their size than they do when fully grown.

Do you know which foods are necessary for growth?

For the best growth and development, a child's food must contain : First. Animal protein, found especially in milk, eggs, meat, including fish and fowl. The protein of certain vegetables and nuts contains body-building sub- stances and will do to help out the animal protein, but will not suffice alone, for the best growth and develop- ment of the average child. Second. Mineral matter, needed in the growth and functioning of the parts of the body, such as the skelton, the blood, the hair, etc. The chief sources of these minerals arc milk, eggs, meat, green vegetables and fruits. Third. The substances regulating growth, found especially in the fat of milk, eggs, leaf vegetables, but not found in vegetable oils or pork fat.

Whole milk contains an abundance of animal protein, minerals, and the growth-regulating substances, besides fat and sugar. No other food- stuff is therefore so important in infancy and childhood.

Indispensable Articles of Food in Childhood. — 1. Whole milk, or skim milk with butter. 2. Butter. 3. Green vegetables, especially leaf vegetables. 4. Starchy foods, which are the principal sources of energy but are not growth foods. To these four essentials it is desirable to add. Some eggs or meat, including fish or fowl, sugar, fruits.

Choose easily digested food for the child and see that it is properly cooked.

Meals for the Well Child. — By the end of the first year, a child should have four meals a day. By the end of the second year three meals a day are sufficient for the aver- age child.

Plenty at Meal Time and Nothing Between Meals. — A

baby at one year may take a quart of milk a day. After this age, as he takes more cereal and bread with egg and vegetables, reduce the milk to three cups a day. A child will take more food if he drinks most of the milk at the end instead of at the beginning of the meal.

Cereals, bread, potato, and rice are the starchy foods the fuel foods — and should be part of every meal. Cooked

cereals are best for children. Victory bread, thoroughly dried in the oven, can be used from infancy on. The child needs an -abundance of fuel food as well as growth food. Green vegetables — spinach, chard, beet greens, beets, carrots, onions, string beans, celery, asparagus, — should appear in the diet by the end of the first year. These vegetables should be first used in strained soup or broth, then as purees, and by the end of the second year mashed or finely divided. Peas, beans (other than string beans), and corn should not be given to very young chil- dren except as purees. Cauliflower and cabbage may be given to older children.

Children crave sweets, and they should be given these, especially in the noon dessert, as simple puddings, cus- tards, home-made ice cream, fruit, jellies or simple candy.

Sweets between meals mean bad teeth and bad "tummies." Fruits should appear daily in the diet of the child; fruit juices for the baby, stewed apples, or prune pulp later in infancy. Raw apple (at first scraped), oranges, ripe peaches, and any cooked fruit may be given to the older child. Bananas are not fit food for a child to eat unless the skin is brown or the banana is cooked.

The Right Sort of Food at the Right Time. — A young child should have the principal meal at noon, including a vegetable and meat soup, or an egg, or meat (including fish and fowl), with a green vegetable, and starchy vege- table or cereal. Cereal and milk with cooked fruit make the best supper and breakfast.

Preach the full dinner plate for children and then the clean dinner plate.

Selected from pamphlets published by U. S. Department of Labor, Children's Bureau, by

Margaret Y. Rogers, Public Health Nurse of Kent Co.