The Care and Feeding of Children Part 17

It is also important not to give milk at meals when fruits, especially sour fruits, are allowed.

_How much milk may advantageously be given?_

The average child with good digestion should take from one and one half pints to one quart of milk daily, this including not only what the child drinks but what is served upon cereals and in other ways. It is seldom wise to allow a child to take as much as two quarts daily, as a more mixed diet for most children is better.

_To what extent may cream be used?_

Older children do not require so large a proportion of fat in their food as do infants, and the use of cream, especially very rich cream, often results in disturbances of digestion. The use of too much or too rich cream is a common cause of the coated tongue, foul breath and pale gray stools, often called "biliousness."

_Is not cream useful in overcoming the constipation of children?_

With infants it is valuable to a certain point, but with older children only to a limited degree, and if such symptoms as those above described are present, cream should not be given.

EGGS

_To what extent may eggs be used in the diet of this period?_

They form a most valuable food. It is essential that they should be fresh and only slightly cooked, soft boiled, poached or coddled; fried eggs should never be given and all omelets are objectionable.

_Which is more digestible, the white or yolk of the egg?_

For the great majority of children, the white of the egg. This forms one of the most digestible proteids we possess, and can be used, even in the latter part of the first year, with advantage.

_Is it not true that eggs often cause "biliousness"?_

Very seldom, if fed as above advised. This is an old prejudice but has little basis in fact.

_How often may eggs be given?_

Most children from four to ten years old will take one egg for breakfast and another for supper for an indefinite period with relish and benefit. There are, however, some few who have a peculiar idiosyncrasy as regards eggs and cannot take them at all.

MEAT AND FISH

_What meats may be given to young children?_

The best are beefsteak, mutton-chop, roast beef, roast lamb, broiled chicken and certain delicate fish, such as shad or ba.s.s.

_What are the important points to be considered in giving meat to children?_

Most meats should be rare and either sc.r.a.ped or very finely divided, as no child can be trusted to chew meat properly. Meats are best broiled or roasted, but should not be fried.

_How often should meat be given?_

At this period, only once a day, at the mid-day meal.

_Is not the excessive nervousness of many modern children due to the giving of meat, or at least aggravated by its use?_

There is little ground for such a belief, unless an excessive amount of meat is given. Certainly cutting off meat from the diet of nervous children seldom produces any striking benefit.

_What meats should be forbidden to young children?_

Ham, bacon, sausage, pork, liver, kidney, game and all dried and salted meats, also cod, mackerel and halibut; all of these are best withheld until the child has pa.s.sed the tenth year.

_Are not gravies beneficial and nutritious?_

The beef juice, or so-called "platter gravy," from a roast is exceedingly nutritious and desirable, but many of the thickened gravies are much less digestible and are too often given in excess; only a small quant.i.ty should be allowed. They should not form an important part of the meal.

VEGETABLES

_What vegetables may be used at this period?_

White potatoes may be given first. These should preferably be baked or boiled and mashed, but never fried. They should be served with beef juice or with cream rather than with b.u.t.ter.

Of the green vegetables, the best are peas, spinach, asparagus tips, string beans, stewed celery, young beets, or carrots, and squash.

Baked sweet potato, turnips, boiled onions and cauliflower, all well cooked, may be given after the sixth or seventh year in moderate amount.

The princ.i.p.al trouble in the digestion of vegetables is due to imperfect cooking. It is, in fact, almost impossible to cook them too much; they should also be very finely mashed. They form a valuable addition to the diet after three years, although the amount at first given should be small, one or two teaspoonfuls. They greatly aid in securing regularity of the bowels. Because small particles are seen in the stools, it is not to be inferred that they are causing disturbance and should, therefore, be stopped, but only that they should be more thoroughly cooked and more finely divided before being given.

_Is it safe to use canned vegetables for children?_

Many of the best brands of canned vegetables are quite safe and some, such as peas and asparagus, can be used with advantage. They are frequently better than stale green vegetables often sold in the markets.

_What vegetables should not be given to young children?_

None of those which are eaten raw, such as celery, radishes, onions, cuc.u.mbers, tomatoes or lettuce. Certain others, even when well cooked, should not be allowed; as corn, lima beans, cabbage, egg plant. None of these should be given until a child has pa.s.sed the age of ten years.

_Are vegetable salads to be given?_

As a rule salads of all kinds should be omitted until a child has pa.s.sed the tenth year. Salads are difficult to digest and a cause of much disturbance in children of all ages.

CEREALS

_What are the most important points in selecting and preparing cereals?_

The important things are that they are properly cooked and not used in excess. The ready-to-serve cereals should never be chosen for children, nor should a child, because he is fond of cereals, be allowed to make his entire meal of them, taking two or three saucerfuls at a feeding.

Many of the partially cooked preparations of oatmeal and wheat are excellent, but should be cooked for a much longer time than is stated upon the package, usually three or four times as long. Digestibility is chiefly a matter of proper cooking. Most of the grains,--oatmeal, hominy, rice, wheaten grits,--require at least three hours' cooking in a double boiler in order to be easily digested. The prepared flours,--corn starch, arrowroot, barley,--should be cooked at least twenty minutes. I know of no preparation in the modern market which requires no cooking, which is to be recommended for children.

_How are cereals to be given?_

Usually with milk or a mixture of milk and cream; always with an abundance of salt and with very little or no sugar, one half teaspoonful on a saucerful of cereal should be the limit.

Cereals should not be served with syrups or b.u.t.ter and sugar.