OUR BABIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 364, 26 May 1928, Page 20

OUR BABIES

By

Hygeia.

Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society). “It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom.”

The weight of the baby under a year receives, as a rule, the close attention of mothers and nurses, but the weight of the toddlers and the “under five” children (the “little runabouts,” as they have been aptly called) is generally considered an unimportant detail.

Of course, it is a mistake to attach undue importance to mere gain in weight alone at any age, but at the same time, throughout the whole of childhood, the rate of gain in weight, considered in relation to height and age of the child, is one of the most valuable means we have of judging the nutrition and general progress. Something is wrong if a child fails to gain or loses weight, over a considerable period without apparent cause. If he is more than 7J per cent, below the average weight for his height and age we call him under-nourished or malnourished. No child should be allowed to remain in a state of malnutrition. The causes should be ascertained and removed. Some children are too fat, and consequently over weight for their age and height. That is not desirable either. The “little runabout” should be weighed and measured regularly. We say emphatically that every child should be .weighed and measured at least once in six months, so that a check may be kept on progress, slight departures from the normal may be noted in the early stages, and general advice may be given and discussed. If this rule were generally observed by parents all over the country there would be as many “beautiful runabouts” as “beautiful babies,” and we should not have that sadly common “falling off” in the second and third years.

The Plunket nurses can weigh and measure the older children as well as the babies, and also give practical, common-sense advice regarding the feeding and care of the child up to school age. / Do not let more than six months elapse without having the “little runabout” weighed and measured. About gain in weight and height: Weight should always be considered in relation to height as well as age in determining whether the child is up to the average standard. For example, a small child of three years old who measures 34in in height and weighs 271 b may be perfectly well nourished and normal in every respect, whereas another child of the same age and weight, but sin taller, would be thin, or, as we say, under-nourished. The cause or causes of this thinness should be ascertained, and removed as quickly as possible. Children who are much under weight, usually gain rapidly when the cause of the low weight can be removed.

Weight is much more affected by poor nutrition than is height, which barring very serious conditions, is largely determined by heredity and racial characteristics. Once the child’s weight in relation to height and age has been determined, the rate of gain is the important thing to watch. In healthy children gain in weight and height go on together, and usually correspond in rate. But in neither is the increase uniform or continuous for long periods of time. With most children there are periods of a few months m which growth and gain in weight are more rapid, followed by a period in which both are slower. Gain in weight may be more rapid in the autumn and spring months and slower m winter and mid-summer. Roughly speaking, the average gain in weight during the second year is about 61b to 71b, during the third year about 31b to 41b, and during the fourth and fifth years about 31b. Children should be measured without shoes and weighed without shoes coats, or any extra outer clothing, and as £ ar as Possible the same type of Fn°- mS silould be w orn at each weighThe scales should be reliable platform scales, with bar and balance. c ~c ^'f ac® scales are not, as a rule, so reliable for this purpose. A tape measure tacked to the wall will serve as a measuring rod. AN EGG DISH FOR LUNCHEON Well wash a quarter of a pound of best nee and stew It in stock until tender. Drain, add a teacupful of tomato puree made by rubbing fresh or tinned tomatoes through a sieve) and cook until fairly thick. Now cut three rashers of fried bacon in fine shreds and add these with three tablespoonsful of grated cheese. Add seasoning to taste and cook for a few minutes. Turn this mixture into a shallow fireproof dish, arrange three fried eggs on top, and place in the oven until everything is thoroughly heated through. The Quantities may be varied according to the number of people to be served.