OUR BABIES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 84, 4 December 1912, Page 8

OUR BABIES.

(By Hygeia.)

Published under the auspices of tlie Society for the Health of Women and Children.

“It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.”

Should a Child Have Just What He Likes. In last week’s column 1 showed ti what lengths a popular American writ or, Dr Woods Hutchinson, lias gom in order to discredit the sound adv.ct given by the leading authorities o. the day as to the rearing of children, and in the vain jittempt to bolstei up his particular fad, that one simph needs to let children have their own

way. In spite of all the wisdom of all tin ages, Hr Hutchinson has jumped tc the conclusion that a child’s so-calloc “natural” desires and tendencies art unerring instincts; and therefore that lie should have his own way in al tilings—,that he should be allowed ti eat what lie likes and when ho likes, without restriction from meddksom elders. Hr Hutchinson says: —

The child literally lives to cat. . lie is a walking famine, a hungei incarnate. All is grist that comet to his mill, and all hours of tin dav or night are alike to him. Bn' he needs every ounce he will devour, and not one penny’s worth o r it will ho wasted. His wisdom if of the ages; yours where it clashei with his is of the almanac®, ol tin catechisms and copybooks, of tin silly chatted of the street and o' the kitchen; . . . therefore le

whoever has charge of the feeing of the growing child of the kinder garten ago deliberately plan am supply him with appropriate appe tisiug and nutritious food mater ials suitable for “piecing” betweei meals—viz., sandwiches, milk, cook ics, bread and butter, bread anc cheese, crackers (particularly s.vcc ones), nuts, fruit, candy. It. may seem unnecessary to treasuch arrant nonsense seriously, but un fortunately the modern parent is onl; too ready to fall in with anything tha J gives countenance to the ovcr-incmlg ing and spoiling of children, and the vice is hy no means confined to pai ents. The same tendency manifest) itself in many of our boarding school, and kindergartens, where children aw given “pieces” between meals unde the mistaken idea that three -feeding: a day are insufficient for a health; child.

Storage of Fuel. People seem to imagine that wha one takes into one’s stomach become: at once available for “sustaining th. body” and keeping us going. The; certainly don’t understand that Lour; and hours have to be spent, fir? t i. d'gesting and' absorbing the food, the) in getting it stowed away inside th. muscle cells, etc., before it is road, to burn and use. • The body is kep going and does its work with tin supplies which it took in yosterd tyindeed largely with what it stowc away last week or last month—in tin; particles of fat and animal starch dc posited here and there in their thou sands in every nook and corner o the system. This is why the menu taineers who perform incredible feat: of sustained hard work and phj sica endurance, in the teeth of piercin' winds and perishing cold, eat scarce!; anything when trying to conquer soxm new mountain giant. In this connection I was very mud struck with an account given me sorm years ago on the Tasman Glacier by tin leader of the first, party of human be ings to look down on New Zealanc from the top of Mount Cook. In tin course of a feat of thirty-six hours continuous climbing and tramping, da; and night, from the Tasman Glacier over the summit of Mount Cook, ac rcss the icefields and down the Hcoke: Valley, the food consumed by eacl man was only a few raisins and bis emits—not equal to a tenth of the material which must have been oonsume< in the doing of the work. They burn ed what had been stored in their tie sues beforehand, ready for instant us< as the need arose. They would have been more thai foolish if they had wasted their energies on the unnecessary task of digest ing and absorbing food for hurfiinf later on, seeing that what they need ed was every particle of immediate!; available force, to, enable them t( withstand the present cold and dirnl and traverse the mountains.

Don’t Use The Whip. It is quite true that the act of eat ing and drinking gives a temporary fillip to the circulation, and to tin bodily organs in general; but w< 'should not get into the habit of depending on this whip, and should above all things avoid whipping at wrong times. A child in whom has beer formed the vice of taking pieces he tween meals may “feel faint” from not. being given its customary biscuit and milk ; but the very occurrence o' the “feeling of faintness” is itself the evidence of faulty feeding habits, impaired digestion or defective storage, etc., and should be regarded as a warning not to continue in the wrong path, but to reform the child’s daily regimen as to air, outing, food, feeding, play, recreation, exercise, rest, sleep, etc. By this means we can establish a regular vigorous, normal appetite three times a day for plain healthy food ensuring plenty of acr five exercise for mouth, jaws, teeth, and salivary glands, instead of the fastidious picking at food characteristic of spoiled children. Dyspeptic Cravings.

Dr Hutchinson takes it for granted that the more fact of a child wanting to eat is sufficient evidence of the immediate need for food. He does not seem to rcal’se that one of the commonest causes of desire to eat is not genuine appetite,' but the abnormal craving induced by over-eating or too

frequent eating, and consequent indigestion. Tins applies, ol course, to adults as well as to children. Nothing makes a child more capricious and ravenous than over-eating; it craves too soon for the stiinuioas ol eating, especially eating between meals, though as a rule the desire lor food is not sustained, and such child-, ren rarely take full quantities at the proper meal times. Children so in-: dnlgcd tend to become faddy and fas-j tidious, crave for sweets or meat, j won’t take a sufficiency of plain, j wholesome food, won’t chew ther foodj properly or take time over meals, and tend to become dyspeptic, thin, and weedy. Nothing is more striking than the improved nutrition, growth, j tone, and comfort of such unfortunates when given three proper, sensible meals a day, with no “pieces” between.

Desires Not Needs.

There is no shallower notion than the idea that our desires are necessarily safe guides as to our needs. For the most part desire and need coincide, in the case of wild animals living in a state of Nature, since in their case supplies tend to be relatively scanty and have to be worked or hunted for; but. what farmer would dream of allowing free rein to the appetite in the case of his domesticated animals, living on a farm where stores of garnered or prepared food are avail able, or even where there are lush patches of green fodder growing in cultivated paddocks? There is no class of stock living under such artificial conditions that, will not “founder” and ruin itself if given • the chance; and the same applies, even more emphatically, in the case of children. Of course, the more concentrated, artificial, and “far from Nature” the food, the less can the child’s desire or judgment be accepted. 'inns .many pro perly trained children can be trusted not to over-indulgo in raw, ripe apples if they form part of the daily meals, and they may not take too much sugar if allowed the natural cane tc chew; but no child might to bo given a free hand with cane-sugar or sweeties. The difference is almost as the difference between grapes and brandy for adults!

It is true that George Henry Lewes contended, in the middle of last century, that the fact of man “taking to anything” was prima facie evidence that it was good for him, and applied the argument to all stimulants, including alcohol; hut, of course, the same might be said in favour of lying, cheating, or thieving, seeing that it takes us all our time to keep straight!

Effects On Character. If writers of the class of Hr Woods Hutchinson would go a little deeper, they might realise that, quite apart from nutrition, there are very important moral,,aspects to, the food and feeding question. The main temptations of childhood are “food temptations,” and, if the child has free license and docs not learn to discipline and curb his inclinations in early life, no will not have, much chance of holding ins own against the stronger temptations of adolescence and maturity. The many spoiled little prigs of the present day are not a good augury for the future.

Adults ought to be ashamed to overindulge children in the.prevailing fashion; but a responsiblei medical writer ought to- he still more, ashamed to countenance or condone such vices. Where would the Scotch he to-day it their ancestors had treated their children as we treat ours ? A century or so ago cane sugar was an expensive luxury, and only a man of means could have afforded a bag of sweeties such as grandparents and others habitually bring nowadays, or such as the grocer hands over the counter to the child every month as a reward (really a punishment iii disguise) for paying the family bill! It is a pity that bribery and corruption of this kind cannot he prevented. School teachers tell me how upset little children Often become the day after accounts are settled.