RATIONAL DIET

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 279, 19 August 1920, Page 7

RATIONAL DIET

CARE OF CHILDREN'S TEETH

HOW TO PREVENT DENTAL DISEASE

(Published under the Authority of the Education Department.) A Tecent publication of this scries drew attention to the great dangei- to tho teeth of growing children, arising from the unrestricted consumption of sugar. The present article will deal with other classHs of foods which are injurious to the teeth, and will conclude by indicating thbse foods which best guarantee the successful preservation of 'both the temporary and the permanent teeth. For many years those qualified to speak authoritatively on this matter have declared dental disease to be easily avoidable, and have proved the magnitude of the trouble in thefjo modern times to be duo largely to errors in diet and the failure to appreciate the fact that orpin in foods produce a free flow of healthy saliva, which is the natural and unquestionably tho most efficient means of maintaining the mouth in an hygienio condition. White bread, sweet biscuits and cake, sloppy porridge and puddings, bread and marmalade, bread and jam, sweets, chocolate, cocoa and tea, all tend to leave tho mouth in a condition favourable to fermentation of particles of food remaining on and between tho teeth. Acid is formed from this ferment tation, with tho result that the enamel is decalcified or softened, and rapid decay «f the tooth substance commences. It is hoped it will not La long before white bread is banished from the diet of growing children and brown or wholemeal bread substituted.

1 Apart from the question of fermentation, tho consumption of brciad made from refined flour means' that tho children are not receiving to essential substances of the living grain which aro necessary for the .nourishment and proper growth of their bodies, as these have been extracted during the preparation of the flour. Biscuits other than the plain whole-meal kind are easily fermentable in tho mouth, and when sweetened are still more undesirable on this account. Porridge should be made from oatmeal as stiff as the child can take it the idea being to, encourage mastication and eliminate the practice/of gulping this food, 60 common with most young children. Chocolate, cocoa, and tea taken hs beverages all tend to check the how of saliva, thus aiding the process of iornwutaltion. of whatever, food remains clinging to the teeth after food. Fortunately there is an easy remedy for conditions of stagnation of the mouth after food. Fresh fruit, especially orango and apple, will produce an immediate and copious flow of saliva, and as it. is recognised that all foods which are injurious to the teeth cannot beieauily banished, from the average diet ot today, parents should make sure that sucfi foods are followed by fresh fruit. Apples are cheap and plentiful in tlnfl country, and tho effect of a pieco of this ripe fruit at the end of a meal is highly beneficial in Preventing fermentation and in cleaning the teeth. It V WJ?"' that the taking of food at nil boim which is so common with eMdraaw most families, is. very undesirable. Such a practice not only favors feraMat* tmu and acid formation in the, mouth but also entails the constant flow of tho digestive juices, which become weakened and restricted in auant.tv. Wholemeal or brown bread, toast, crusts, boiled fish, wup, butter, green vegetables and fresh fruits, are all almoin of what may be termed an hygien o diet, that is, they encourage an adequate supply of healthy saliva. ;It must be understood tifliat it is advisable that in a 1 cases fresh fruit should end the meal. Children are very adaptablo and a proper regime with Tegard to the rational consumption of food is' not difficult to establish. All robusi! children from tho time they are in possession of their temporary molars should be restricted to three meals a day. As the infant passes from the purely milk diet Hfa tho mora solid diet the milk should be more, and more diluted with water. A-dietary em-, bracing the three daily meals is given below and the foods selected from those enumerated will ensure adequate nourishment to the growing child, with efficient mastication. It will be understood that variations in the number, kind and quantity of foods will be observed according to the age of the child. The ages considered range from two to twelve years. Breakfast: Porridge mado (from oatmeal) as stiff as possible or Granoso made in a similar manner. Toasted brown biead and butter {never hot busttered toast), well cookca or -toasted bacon, milk and water or plain water. Fresh fruit, as,a pie'eo of.orange oi: apple. Dinner; Vegetable eoup from whiol the boiled vegetables have been removed by straining. If potatoes are nsed tho skin should be included. ' Meat, boiled fish or boiled poultry. Uncooked vegetables 6uch as lettuce, cress, radish and celery; ■ cooked vegetables. Stale brown bread with crusi). Milk pudding. Milk and water or plain water. Baked apple oi\ fresh fruit, as a piece «tf orange oj. apple. Tea: Porridge or granoso (made as above), occasionally milk pudding, toasted brown bread and butter. Stale brown bread and butter. Milk and water or plain water.' Fresh fruit, as a piece •of orangei or apple. ' Egg's lightly boiled should not be given, ■until after two years of age.' Meat is not considered necessary in the majority of cases up to this age, but may be added. Graijed. cheese on toast or with other foods is well liked andeasily digested by children. Quite recently dt a public meeting of three days' duration, held at Manchester under tho auspices of the Pood Education Society of Great Britain, the, faot that Jewish children had better teeth than Gentile children was attributed to differences in diet, an important factor being that the Jews use oil instead of sugar. Dr. James Wheatley, the County and School Medical Officer for Shropshire, produced .a record of investigations in the elementary schools of thaHf county, showing that the restriction of the sugar supply during the war, the altered character of tihe bread, and tho reduced consumption of milk had been accompanied by a remarkable diminution of dental caries, Parallel with the attention to a rational or hygienic diet, caro must b<> displayed in 'the choice and preparation of foods in order that those substances, which have been found by experiment to bo necessary to tho proper growth of tho body, shall 'not be either absent or destroyed by .heat in over-cooking. This question of the "Vitamines," as those v substances are called, will form the subject of tho next publication in this series.