THE CHILDREN'S MEALS

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1166, 17 June 1911, Page 11

THE CHILDREN'S MEALS

;. THE RIGHT FOOD FOR THEM. i If there is a time when the human machine needs the very best and most nourishing food it is between Ihe ages of five ■ ; and fifteen (says an English writer). Dur--0 ing these years, when the body growth is , most rapid, tho child's strength must bo f kept up (o the mark and as varied as possible a menu of foods readily converted into 1 suitable building material's must be uro- , vided. , Too many parenlf, particularly those of . the old-fashioned school, cling lo the t theory that n child's likes ami dislikes : in tho matter of food are of no importance whatever; that the child must, eat 1 what is placed before it, whether it likes - it or not. > This is a very poor system, because it 1 often results in the child taking a dis- - like to food which, if a little tact had , been used, it might have been led to eat with some pleasure and appetite. An- ' other point is that food that one dislikes never does as much good as it would if it had appealed to the appetite. If, then, a child has an inborn hatred for, say, milk or boiled eggs and essential nourishing foods of that sort, do not force them upon him, but have them served in such a variety of ways that he will not recognise them. Many children who do not like boiled eggs will really enjoy them when they are scrambled or iu the form of omelettes, and if they refuse to drink milk by the glassful turn U into junket or into very milky milk putdings. To encourage the correct development of the brain and body care should be exercised over the selection of the food, and too long an interval of time should not be allowed to elapse between the meals. A child at n very early age looks for regularity iu his meal hours, and whenever tho time comes round the healthy child is ready and expectant for it. What to Give With Meals. If left too long that delightful sensation of being hungry will have passed away, and left a dull ache instead. The child will either not want to eat at all or else wil.l cat very quickly and perhaps have a bad attack of indigestion in consequence. | A child should not be brought up on a largo amount of meat; a little in the middle'of the day is quite enough, and then it should be not too well done. Cold meat is not easily digested by young children; a little hot beef or mutton with plenty of gravy is both more nourishing and more suitable to tho youthful stomach. There should always be vegetablespotatoes in not too large a quantity, as they are not blood-making—and wholemeal or standard bread, as much as this with gravy and a green vegetable as the child likes. After this he should have junket or a milky pudding witli stewed fruit, or any pudding made with milk and eggs. Tea, say at five o'clock, should consist of very weak, freshly-made tea, bread and butter, and jam if you can be quite ..•ure that it is perfectly pure, and sponge cake. The last meal should be nourishing, but a very light one. Milk, if he will drink it, either hot or cold, is the ideal supper, but if he cannot digest It try some cocoa or a cup of raw meat juice diluted with boiling water. Then he can have bread and butter and a lightly boiled egg, or toast and milk, a milky reading, or an omelette. No Twice-Cooked Meat, Never let a child have twice-cooKw' meat; the nourishment has been largely cooked out of it tho first time, leaving only a mass of fibrous matter, which can do the child little good. It is well to encourage in children n liking for fruit; let them have it whenever they want it—that is to say, at every meal. All kinds of ripe fruit as it comes into season should lie given to them, as well as stewed fruit, but in ihe case of raw fruit the skin should always bo removed. A banana, when peeled, should be scraped with a silver knife, as the stringy substance thus removed contains a pungent bitter oil, injurious both to children and grown people. Never allow children to eat between meals; let these meals be, regular and wholesome, : and do not give them too many sweet's. A few directly after their midday meal, however, are'quite harmless.