The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

December, 1927 The Health Bulletin 31
should not be allowed to usurp the
cooked ones such as oatmeal and cream
of wheat. I have found that Dennett's
rule about giving no sugar at breakfast
is a good one, in children with poor
appetites.
Third, I do not believe in giving too
much milk after the first year. While
it is a good food, if the proverbial
quart or more a day is consumed,
particularly between meals, it is apt to
take the place of green vegetables and
other foods needed more by older children.
From a pint to a pint and a
half a day, with meals, is sufficient.
Fourth, in children who are hard to
feed, very little sugar should be allowed.
Especially should parents be
warned against an excess of sugar in
hot weather. I verily believe that
sugar has killed more babies than
Herod ever did.
Fifth, children should never be
coaxed to eat, but should have the
proper food put before them and told
to "take it or leave it," with the distinct
understanding that they must
wait for the next meal for another
chance. They should also be required
to dispose of the substantial part of
their meal before getting the dessert.
If they refuse to eat their vegetables
and meat, let them do without the
whole meal. If a child gets the idea
that he is conferring a favor upon
parents or nurse by eating, he will use
it to drive all sorts of bargains. Eight
here let me recommend two books that
will prove helpful both to parents and
to doctors. One of them is "Parenthood
and the Newer Psychology," by
Frank Howard Richardson. The other
is "Education and the Good Life," by
Bertrand Russell. They are both full
of helpful suggestions as to the discipline
and general training of children.
Of even greater importance than
diet is the proper amount of rest. Rest
is nature's own antidote for fatigue.
Children should be put to bed early
and required to take a nap in the middle
of the day. Most of these malnourished
children do not need exercise
as much as they do rest, though this
does not mean that they should not
live outdoors a great deal of their time.
One point I believe important is to
see that they get a little rest period
before as well as after meals. If they
come in heated up from exciting play
directly to the table, it is hard to get
them to do justice to their plates.
It goes without saj'ing that in older
children all actual diseased conditions,
such as infected tonsils, should be
remedied as far as possible.
The home life of the children should
be as pleasant as can be, and parental
differences of opinion should not be
aired before children.
Drugs are of little value in treating
malnourished children, unless there is
some specific disease, such as syphilis.
In cold weather cod liver oil is perhaps
the most effective, and it may do more
harm than good by destroying appetite
and interfering with digestion. Tincture
of nux vomica or some preparation
of iron may prove helpful in stimulating
the appetite.
By way of summary, let me repeat
that the chief cause of chronic fatigue
in children is lack of suflicient rest at
regular intervals, and the dissipation
of nervous energy in wrong ways, such
as too long school hours, too many outside
interests in school, too many
parties, movies and other social functions,
and emotional strains such as*
are imposed by unhappy home surroundings.
All these tend to interfere
with the appetite and digestion. The
nutrition suffers still more by unwise
attempts at forced feeding at and beween
meals, and too much rich or unwholesome
food, given for its palatability.
The treatment is to correct as far
as possible the child's habits of living
and to give wholesome food at proper
intervals.
She—Time separates the best of
friends.
He—Quite true. Fourteen years ago
we were both eighteen. Now you are
twenty-three and I am thirty-two.
Teacher— "I wonder if you like wit,
Isaac"
Ikey— "Sure, I do, I eats it, every
morning."
"Eat what" inquires teacher.
"Cream of wit," answers Ikey.