Page:Helen Rich Baldwin - Nutrition and Health (1924).pdf/20



A child’s meal should never be selected from one or two articles; a variety of foods is needed to furnish all kinds of growing materials and also to avoid monotony. A child’s diet should include some of each of the following types of food every day.

Milk is the most important and the most perfect food we have for growing children. There is no substitute for it. It is a good fuel because it contains fat and sugar. The body needs such fuel to keep it warm and to make it move and work and play, just as the steam engine needs coal or the automobile needs gasoline.

Milk also contains substances which repair waste, help growth and build flesh and bone.

It is important to know where one’s milk supply comes from and how it is inspected. Ordinary milk is frequently unreliable as to cleanliness and quality. Diluted condensed milk or dried milk has been used very successfully in the diets of children.

At least a pint of milk a day (not more than a quart) should be included in the daily diet of every child. When a child dislikes to drink milk alone, he should be given his share in the form of cocoa, custards, milk soups, creamed dishes, etc.

If plenty of milk and an egg a day are selected for the diet of the child, very little meat should be given before the seventh year. The broths from stews may be given with crackers or bread or served on vegetables.

These foodstuffs should supply at least one-third of the food