Foods and home making

Butter. — Unless butter is made from certified milk or from an ade- quately pasteurized cream it represents a dangerous source of tubercu- losis. Therefore, unless one is certain of the quality, it is better to postpone its use until the child goes to school. Homemade jams and jellies may be used in place of butter, if spread on bread in a thin layer. The child will get all of the fat-soluble vitamin A it needs from the milk it drinks. What should a school child eat? The diet of a school child should consist of : A quart of milk a day Plenty of fruits and vegetables including orange or tomato Eggs A small amount of meat or fish or cheese daily Well-cooked cereals Whole-wheat or rye bread and butter Wholesome desserts The directions given in this text for selecting and preparing these foods apply to the young school child as well as older children and grown-ups. Feeding the Baby 507 Do you express your dislikes for foods ? An older brother’s or sister’s remark, that he “ hates spinach,” may influence a younger brother or sister to dislike it. On the other hand, saying that carrots taste good or look pretty may make a young child want to eat this valuable vegetable. If you are so unfortunate as to dislike a wholesome food, do not speak of it before younger brothers and sisters. How can young children be taught to eat wholesome foods? A person generally likes the kind of food he is used to eating. If a baby is given vegetables from the time he is six months old, he will usually like vegetables. There will be no difficulty in getting him to continue to eat them when he grows older. Some children need to be taught to eat certain wholesome foods such as vegetables when such foods were not given them in babyhood. Most children want “to grow big.” Showing a child pictures of animals that have grown because of wholesome food or failed to grow because of the lack of it often helps children to learn to eat what they should. (See the illustrations on pages 36, 68, and 222.) Giving children very small portions of a new food is a good rule. A food prejudice may often be overcome by taking a teaspoon or less of the disliked food each time it is served. There are some children who do not care for candy because they do not know how it tastes. The members of the family, realizing that candy is not good for a young child, have been careful not to give it to him. Never give a child a taste of anything which he should not eat. When a great deal is said at the table about what a little child eats, attention is called to that child. He becomes the center of attention and likes the notice he is receiving. In such a case a child may refuse to eat what he should because by so doing he becomes the center of attention. Set the proper food before a child and take it as a matter of course that he will eat it. 508 Health and Child Care SUMMARY Certified milk is milk with a guarantee that it has been obtained from healthy cows under sanitary conditions. Pasteurized milk is milk that has been heated to a temperature of about 1450 F., kept at that temperature for 30 minutes, then quickly cooled. Modified milk is milk changed so as to meet the needs of a baby. Sterilizing is the process of freeing a substance from bacteria. Uten- sils and ingredients used in modifying milk are sterilized by boiling. Mother's milk is better for a child because it