Babies - Diet and Nutrition : Part 3

The Mother and Her Child
by William S. Sadler, M.D., Lena K. Sadler, M.D.

(Page 37 of 42)

Fuel Value of Foods

Expressed in terms of English weight, the fuel value of the three different food elements would be:

1 ounce of carbohydrates 127.5 calories 1 ounce of proteins 127.5 " 1 ounce of fat 289.2 "

It will be observed that fat contains more than twice as much heat as the carbohydrates. This is due to the fact that fat contains more carbon than either starch or sugar. Next to fats, starches and sugars are the most important fuel elements. Protein is a very extravagant form of food for fuel purposes. Proteins are the most expensive elements of human food; they are incompletely burned in the body, and inasmuch as they leave behind distressing and disease-producing ashes, it is clearly evident that only sufficient amount of proteins should be eaten each day to supply the demand of the body for repairs. We should depend more largely upon the carbohydrates and fats for heat and energy.

A large part of our food is required to furnish heat to take the place of that lost by radiation from the skin, and this is why children require more food than adults - they have a larger skin surface in proportion to their weight, and therefore lose more heat by radiation, and it is for this reason that the food for the growing child must be wisely and carefully selected.

Diet for Child Two to Three Years Old

Breakfast, 7-8 A. M.: Fruit; cooked or toasted cereal served with thin cream; a soft boiled or coddled egg; bread (two or more days old) and butter; plenty of milk.

Dinner, 12-1: Soups; creamed vegetables - tomato, corn, peas, and celery; any two of potatoes - creamed, mashed, or baked - carrots, beets, spinach, peas, cornlet, squash, cauliflower, asparagus tips, string beans; protein dish - the puree of dried beans, peas, or lentils; macaroni or carefully selected meats; dessert - apples, baked or sauce - or other fruits, junket, custard, milk.

Supper, 5-6 P. M.: Fruit, bread (bran bread if constipated); milk; porridge, with rich milk or milk toast; sweetened graham crackers.

Foods Allowed Children Of Four Years And Older

Protein Dishes: Purees of dried peas; lentils; beans; macaroni; eggs - soft boiled, poached, scrambled, or omelet; meats - steak, chops, chicken, turkey, broiled fish.

Cereals: All the toasted-flake foods; toasted and not too fresh bread, including both graham and bran; hominy; corn meal; oatmeal; farina; rice; barley; tapioca; sago, etc.

Soups: Creamed vegetable soups of all kinds and broths.

Vegetables: Potatoes; all the small green vegetables; lettuce; stewed celery; beets; squash; cauliflower, etc.

Fruits: All, if stewed or baked. Raw fruits - pears, peaches, ripe apples, berries, oranges, persimmons, grape-pulp without seeds, etc.

Desserts: Custard; junkets; home-made ice cream; sponge cake; baked fruits with whipped cream, etc.

Foods To Be Avoided By Young Children

1. Doughy breads, griddle cakes, insides of muffins, hot biscuits, etc.

2. Fried meats, such as sausage, oysters, pork, ham, veal, salt fish, corned beef, dried beef, etc.

3. Foods that are hot when they are cold - such as catsup, horse radish, mustard, highly spiced pickles, sauces, etc.

4. Rich pastries, puddings, unripe fruit, salted peanuts, and highly concocted dishes.

5. Certain salads, containing coarse but easily swallowed foods, with highly seasoned sauces.

6. Tea, coffee, and all alcoholic beverages.

7. Soft candies, chocolate creams, bon-bons, patties, etc.

Average normal children crave sweets, and since their normal food is about seven percent sugar it is not to be wondered at. There are many forms of pure, hard candies which may be taken by the three-year-old child. They are stick candy, fruit tablets, sunshine candies, and other varieties which may be sucked.

All soft candies, such as chocolate creams, bon-bons, patties, etc., are to be avoided. Hard candies, taken along with the desserts at meal time, in no wise injure the normal stomach of the healthy child.

The other members of the family should set a correct example by sucking the hard candies rather than chewing them; for if the hard candies are allowed to dissolve slowly in the mouth they produce a weak solution of sugar, which does not interfere with digestion as do the strong and concentrated sugar solutions which result from chewing chocolate creams, bon-bons, etc.

Candy, cookies, sandwiches, or bits of cake should never be allowed between the meals.

Eating Between Meals

Children who do not eat well at the breakfast table, if given a "piece" at 10 A. M., will not be ready for the 12 o'clock meal; and then another "piece" at 2 P. M. interferes with the normal appetite at 6 P. M. Digestion is disturbed, the nervous system irritated, and a "puny child" is often the result.

Bring the three-or-four-year-old to a well-selected breakfast some time between 7 and 8 A. M. Then nothing - absolutely nothing - but water must pass the lips between that breakfast hour and the 12 o'clock meal, which should be a good one. Then the interval until 5 or 6 P. M. is passed in the same manner. At the evening meal the appetite is again whetted: and a good appetite always means good gastric juice to digest the meal. And so, good mother, guard carefully the interval between meals if you would have good digestion and good health for the little folks.

About the Author

Dr. William S. Sadler M.D. was a well-known American psychiatrist and college teacher in the school of medicine at the University of Chicago. For over sixty years he practiced his profession in Chicago, thirty-three years being associated in practice with his wife, Dr Lena Kellogg Sadler. The doctors were pioneers in the research on the mysterious Urantia Papers.