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Show What to Eat and Why C. Houston Goudiss Gives Practical Advice on Feeding 'Teen Age Child; Describes Some Special Food Needs of Both Boys and Girls By C. HOUSTON GOUDISS BEGINNING around the twelfth year in girls and the thirteenth thir-teenth year in boys, the rate jot growth is greatly accelerated. accel-erated. Then children require large quantities of food to meet the needs of their rapidly maturing bodies and they usually develop huge appetites. Unfortunately, however, they are often inclined to overlook the foods that are most necessary to health, to eat at odd hours, and to stuff them- St'lVeS Willi I1U11 tuniuniauuuj that may severely tax the digestive system. Mothers may find it exceedingly exceed-ingly difficult to deal with their offspring all through the 'teens, when physiological changes are taking place which mark the transition from childhood to maturity. For along with the development of his fast growing body, the child's emotional life un-pj'wjjv un-pj'wjjv dergoes a pro- i . S, found and disturb-k disturb-k 5 s ing change. The (" if5- " boy or girl who f fsv was formerly ame- nable to direction x ' 1. H suddenly exhibits a II desire for inde-! inde-! feNft ,J pendence. He be- f " comes jumpy and irritable, and the II A. tLl wish to direct his own life extends even to his choice of food. Mothers must mobilize all the patience and forbearance at their command must make it their solemn sol-emn duty to see that their adolescent ado-lescent children have the foods they require for growth, for stamina, stam-ina, and for building resistance to disease. For the stress and strain of adolescence will be far more easily weathered by boys and girls who are properly nourished. Quality Important as Quantity During the years of greatest growth, boys and girls frequently require more food than their fathers fa-thers or mothers. But it is essential es-sential that the diet be well balanced bal-anced and of the highest nutritive value. It should include an abundance abun-dance of easily digested energy foods, such as breadstuffs potatoes, pota-toes, cereals and macaroni products, prod-ucts, as well as liberal quantities of the more concentrated fuel foods, such as butter or margarine. marga-rine. There must be an ample supply of high quality protein which is furnished by meat, fish, eggs, cheese and milk to build the new muscle tissue required to cover the lengthening frames of the boys and help build the rounded round-ed contours of the girls. Need for Minerals and Vitamins There must be ample amounts of the various minerals especial ly calcium and phosphorus for the teeth and bones, and to help build sound, healthy nerves; iodine for proper functioning of the thyroid gland; iron for building increased quantities of rich red blood. Every vitamin must be included in the adolescent's diet to promote normal nor-mal health and development, but vitamin A is especially valuable at this time of rapid growth, and vitamin B is also required in liberal lib-eral amounts to meet the extra demands de-mands of increased activity and growth. A Quart of Milk Daily It is highly desirable that the diet should include a quart of milk daily, because milk is such a splendid source of calcium and vitamin A, as well as other necessary neces-sary minerals and vitamins. If children have been brought up with a wholesome respect for this master food, they will continue to drink it during their 'teens. However, if they complain about taking it as a beverage, mothers should see that it is supplied by way of cream soups and sauces, with cereals, and in nutritious pudding pud-ding desserts, which can be enriched en-riched with eggs, thus providing additional proteins, minerals and vitamins. Fruits and Vegetables Fruits should be eaten freely at least twice a day and the high-caloric high-caloric dried fruits, such as prunes and dates, may be used to advantage ad-vantage along with bananas, oranges, or-anges, grapefruit, apples and other oth-er fresh ' fruits, as well as the many varieties that come in cans. Cooked and raw vegetables should be provided liberally if possible, at both lunch and dinner. Dressing cooked vegetables with butter or margarine will increase their fuel value, and make them more satisfying for hungry boys. Girls, who are often finicky eaters during their adolescent years, can usually be tempted with crisp, raw vegetables served in the form of salads; and protein can be added by means of eggs, cheese, fish or chicken. Boys Need More Food Than Girls There is a marked difference between be-tween the fuel requirements of 'teen age boys and girls. Both must have a well balanced diet. But the boys need many more calories, and therefore should have a mare generous allowance of highly concentrated foods which supply necessary fuel with a minimum min-imum tax on the digestive system. They should have cereals in generous-size portions and it's advisable advis-able to choose part of the cereals from those retaining the bran and the germ. And they'll welcome nourishing desserts, such as custard, cus-tard, tapioca, bread and cornstarch corn-starch puddings. Girls Warned Against Reducing Girls, on the other hand, may become fussy and try to cut down radically on the fuel foods, with the foolish idea of keeping fashionably fash-ionably thin. This must not be permitted, because it may result in under-nutrition, which opens the way to fatigue and nervousness, and may lead to serious disease. In addition to wholesome, nourishing nour-ishing food, 'teen age boys and girls should have plenty of rest, sunshine and healthful outdoor exercise. ex-ercise. And they also deserve the sympathy and deep understanding of their parents. WNU C. Houston Goudiss 1939 59. |