Food study

Children should be trained in eating habits just as much as in others. Many make the mistake of giving the little child only soft, mushy foods, and then wonder that he does not learn to chew. Crusts of bread and hard crackers are excellent educators for children beginning to eat. Most mothers are in a hurry and feed the child too rapidly. The next spoonful is waiting at his lips before he has swallowed the first. So the children learn to eat too rapidly. The older child is too often forbidden to talk at the table, so even that interference with rapid eating is done away with. It is wise not to excuse children from the table when they have finished, but to require them to stay until the end of the meal. The child in a hurry to return to play will eat much more rapidly if he knows he can go when he has finished eating. Children should be trained to like all kinds of food. If, as little children, they are fed vegetables in purees and soups, the difficulty which often occurs in teaching a child to like them will be avoided. Much can be accomplished by suggestion. If the older people do not eat all kinds of food, or if a child's dislikes are dwelt upon, difficulties will arise. The assumption that the flavor of a food is delicious and that the child will like it, will go far. Water-drinking is another habit which may need attention. Food should not be washed down, nor should the water be iced ; otherwise, water at meals is desirable, as is also water between meals. Most adults drink too little water. Children should not eat whenever they are hungry, but at regular times. Lunches between meals should be provided regularly for little children. Care should be taken that the food be of such a nature as to be digested quickly, so as not to interfere with the following meal. It should be of such a character as to tempt only the hungry child to eat. The amount of food required by children at various stages of their growth is shown in a table in the Appendix. The total amount is considered a minimum rather than an outside limit. A child with a natural, unspoiled appetite, fed simple, nourishing food, can safely be trusted not to overeat. U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. Farmers' Bulletin No. 712. " School Lunches." U. S. Bureau of Education. Bulletin No. 403. "The Daily Meals of School Children," by Caroline L. Hunt. Teachers' College Bulletin. "The Feeding of Young Children," by Mary Swartz Rose, Teachers' College Bulletin. "Food for School Boys and Girls," by Mary Swartz Rose. 1. Plan a series of meals for three days for a child of three, of six, and of ten. CHEESE PUDDING 281 2. Plan five school lunches for a child of ten. 3. Sum up the principal points concerned in the feeding of children. CHEESE PUDDING WELSH RABBIT A. Class Experiments. EFFECT OF EXTREME HEAT ON CHEESE. 1. Heat a small piece of cheese for some time in a hot frying pan. Allow it to cool, and examine. What two constituents do you find present? What is the effect of extreme heat on protein ? on fat ? 2. Heat another small piece of cheese in a double boiler (or over water). After the cheese is melted, cool it, and compare with (1). What precautions must be taken in cooking cheese ? B. PREPARE CHEESE PUDDING — a luncheon dish. \ c. milk j c. bread crumbs