Plain Food for Children.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 247, 17 March 1888, Page 9

Plain Food for Children.

Childkkn require very little meat, even when as old as ten or twelve years, and always thrive best on the plainest diet. For an example of this we refer our readers to the children of pome of the Scotch working clas."=eb, whose simple method ot feeding produces such excellent results. The Scotch are proverbially hardy and must cular, and, as eveiybody knows, eat oatmeal porridge where our children eat flesh or puddings and jam. The Hrst food after weaning should be cow's milk and water, mixed to resemble mother's milk as nearly as possible, gradually changing into' that which is slighter, thicker, and stonger. although still in a liquid form, such as oatmeal (J111&), prepared foods, crushed biscuit, " tops and bottom?," or barley gruel. As the breast is forsaken the milk and water will take its place, the quantity of milk in proportion to the water being steadily increased until the child is taking nearly all milk, or afc about eighteen months of age to two years, the other food^ described above gradually superseding it. By degrees the quality of the food and the strength of the milk portion of the diet may be strengthened, until at three or four years of age the child is taking a little meat, vegetable, stewed fruit, boiled rice and milk, light suet; puddings, a pint or so of new milk daily, and "oatmeal porridge. This latter is so very much better than bread and milk, or any other kinds of liquid food thatitcannotbetoohighly recommended Most of the prepared patent foods are based upon fine oatmeal — that being better for young children than the coarse ground, although more liable to meet with infamous adulteration. If this style of dieting were uniformly adopted there would be far fewer sickly, dwarfed, deformed, rickety children about, and in our hospitals, than we see at present, to our own disgra.ee. Why will mothers give their children jam tarts, plum buns, sweets, and other confectionery, green apples, or any other fruit that comes handy, and for which the child expresses a preference, and only too often beer? Until mothers learn to treat children with as much care as a cattle-dealer doe 3 a prize pig, or a trainer his horse, they must expect to find their offspring grow up to blame their parents for some constitutional deformity that robs them of the full enjoyment of the world. The golden rule should be— do not overfeed your children, either by quantity or quality do nob indulge them, or they will become a nuisance to yourself as well as to others, and remember that, in the discretion you employ in their behalf in selecting and limiting food depend the future health and vigour of the child.