CHILDREN AND FOOD

New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 916, 1 March 1957, Page 23

CHILDREN AND FOOD

"HERE need be no forcible feeding if mothers listen to Flora Davidson, a dietician from the Department of Health, who has recorded six talks on The Child and His Food. These talks, of special interest to mothers, can now be heard in the Women’s Hour, from 1XN on Wednesdays, and will begin at 2XG on March 13, and 2XN on March 14. Miss Davidson brings authority and commonsense to many of the ideas and problems associated with feeding a family. One of the most common worries is that caused by a child’s re-

tusal of food, or of a certain food. Miss Davidson has some sound advice on attitudes to this problem, and on ways to handle it, It is most important not to worry, and to make sure that a good mixed diet is available to replace the elements in a rejected food. Here, as in others of her talks, she disposes of some fallacies about food. Many mothers, told that certain foods are very valuable, think that they are irreplaceable, but the vital elements that these foods

contain are usually found in other foods. A good diet is well balanced, not rigorously restricted. One idea Miss Davidson . disposes of is the worthlessness of white bread. Our white bread is not now so refined as: it used to be, and it is nearly as rich as wholemeal bread, If it is liked, wholemeal bread is good, but it is not so important that it should be forced on an unwilling family. Either bread is. good for lunches, which Miss Davidson discusses in another talk. She utterly condemns the biscuit, cake and fizzy drink lunch, and suggests several ways

of making nutritious lunches which are attractive to children, Unattractive lunches too often end up in the rubbish tin, so that children’s preferences are important here, too. As long as mother adds some fruit and a milk drink, even fish and chips or meat pies are not too bad as an_ occasional lunch. Miss Davidson devotes her final talk to the subject of teaching daughters | how to cook,.a most important part of a mother’s household management.