MINERAL REQUIREMENTS
Just as energy foods and proteins must be adjusted in the dietary to safeguard the health of the body, so the mineral salts must be adjusted for a like purpose. Studies made of the dietaries of a number of families brought to light the fact that the children more often suffered from a deficiency of calcium, phosphorus and iron in their diets than they did from too little protein,[25] proving that it is quite as essential to adjust the mineral salts in the diet as it is that of the organic constituents.
According to Sherman the diet of an adult should contain each day per pound of body weight:
| Protein | 0.5000 gram or more |
| Phosphorus | 0.0100 gram or more |
| Calcium | 0.0050 gram or more |
| Iron | 0.0001 gram or more |
These averages, while covering the needs of the mature body, do not furnish the necessary amount of protein, or mineral salts to support the growth and development of the child. Hence, it has been deemed advisable to reckon the requirements of the latter per thousand calories, instead of per pound of body weight, in this way obviating some of the danger of protein and mineral deficiencies.
McCollum, Simmonds and Pitz have shown that a deficiency in the inorganic content of a diet may result in a retarding or suspension of growth. This result has been overcome on the introduction of the proper mineral salts into the diet. This salt mixture is such as to make the total ash, approximate that found in the composition of milk ash.
The following diagram illustrates this point.
Effect upon growth of adding to a diet otherwise adequate a salt mixture of such composition as to make the composition of the total ash similar to that of milk ash; immediate resumption after entire suspension of growth. Courtesy of Dr. E. V. McCollum.
The following outline will serve as a guide in making the estimates for the food requirements of children:
The Diet of a Child Should Contain for Every 1000 Calories Furnished by the Foodstuffs,
| Protein | 25.000 grams or more |
| Phosphorus | 00.480 gram or more |
| Calcium | 00.250 gram or more |
| Iron | 00.005 gram or more |
Vitamine Needs.—We have seen the manner in which the energy and protein foods have been adjusted in the diet, but these can not alone assure the body, and especially the growing body of a normal maintenance and repair of its tissue, or support the growth which is essential at this time. This function is believed to belong to the vitamines, since feeding experiments have demonstrated the fact that animals soon cease to grow, develop deficiency diseases, and finally die, when deprived of the essential constituents. Gillett advises, as a safe rule, the use of one, and preferably two foods known to be rich in the fat soluble vitamine, in each day’s food allowance, milk and leafy vegetables, for example. If the foods containing phosphorus, calcium, and iron are taken in sufficient quantity, the second, or “B” vitamine needs, will probably be adequately covered, but the presence of the “C” vitamine must be carefully attended to; some fresh fruit or vegetables (see table) is obligatory each day to insure the individual against the development of scurvy.
Factors Affecting the Food Selection.—The estimation of the energy needs of the body, and the selection of the foods to furnish the fuel for this purpose, depend largely upon the individual. The digestion of the fats, as well as the way in which the body utilizes them, makes the use of this foodstuff more or less limited according to the ability of the individual to take care of them, the minimum allowance for children being between 2 and 3 ounces per day. According to Gillett, “If boys and girls get at least this amount from butter and its substitutes, cream, bacon, fat meat and oils, additional amounts from their food will provide a margin of safety, without overtaxing the digestive system.”
After determining the amount of fat required in each day’s food allowance, it is a simple matter to adjust the carbohydrates. It is safer from a health standpoint, to obtain the greater portion of this foodstuff from starchy foods rather than from the sugars, many foods rich in starch, likewise contain appreciable amounts of protein and fat, whereas sugar is practically one hundred per cent. carbohydrate. The ease, too, with which this substance ferments in the stomach, and the manner in which it destroys the appetite for other foods, makes the use of much of it in concentrated form unadvisable, especially in the diet of children.
The amount of sugar allowed each day, should be limited to an ounce or ounce and a half (2 to 3 tablespoonfuls), and a less quantity is desirable. In order to obtain the best results, with the least deleterious effect on the body, it is advisable to give sugar in dilute form. A piece of pure candy after a meal may not harm the child; but just before, or between meals, as well as the habit of making the breakfast cocoa and cereal of syrup-like sweetness is deplorable, and should in all instances be discouraged.
The American Red Cross recommends the following method for estimating the amount of sugar in the dietary: “Add one-half the weight of such foods as jellies, jams and preserves, and three-quarters the weight of such foods as candy, honey and syrup, to the weight of sugar used.” The amount of sugar consumed, as such, by the adult each day, is not of such paramount importance as it is in the case of children, but even for adults an excessive amount of carbohydrate in this form is not considered advisable from a health standpoint.
In order to assure each member of the family of getting all of the materials needed for the growth, repair and regulation of their bodies, as well as the necessary fuel material with which to run the engine and to maintain the proper body temperature, the following practical method is suggested for the planning of the daily dietary.
The Diet Each Day Should Contain:
1. Milk:
One quart for each child under two years of age. From 1 pint to 1 quart for each child from two to five years of age. (M. S. Rose of Teachers’ College advises at least a quart for every child of six years and under, at least 1 pint for children from six to sixteen, and one half of a pint thereafter.)
2. Cereals and Breadstuffs:
(Activity of person determining the amount.)
| For children under two years of age | 1-3 oz. a day |
| For children from two to five years | 2-5 oz. a day |
| For children from five to twelve years | 5-9 oz. a day |
| For all over twelve years of age | 9-16 oz. a day |
3. Meat or its Substitute:
For children under five years no meat is needed.
(a) Meat:
| For children from five to ten years | 1-2 oz. (no more) a day |
| For children from ten to fourteen years | 2-4 oz. (no more) a day of meat or fish. |
| For individuals over fourteen years | 2-6 oz. should be the maximum for the day. |
(b) Eggs:
| For children under two years | no eggs are given.[26] |
| For children from two to five years | 3-5 eggs may be given each week, being substituted for part or all of the meat. |
For children it is necessary to use milk abundantly when beans or peas are substituted for the meat or egg proteins.
4. Vegetables:
| For children under six months[27] | no vegetables need be given. |
| For children from six to nine months | 1 oz. gradually increased to 6 oz. of strained vegetable soup (see formula, page [223]). |
| For children from twelve to fifteen months | 1 small baked potato may be added, and such vegetables as peas, string beans, carrots, spinach, squash, lima beans (strained). |
Two vegetables, one of which should be potatoes (white), should be given each day. A leafy vegetable (spinach greens, string beans, kale, lettuce) should be given from three to four times each week and oftener if possible.
5. Fruit:
| For children from six months on (earlier if physician approves) | 1-2 tablespoons orange or prune juice a day. |
| For children from first to second year | 1-3 tablespoons twice daily. |
| For children from two to five years | 3-4 tbsp. or more, twice daily (amount governed by health of child). |
All children should be given fresh fruit three or four times a week; some fruit given every day. Adults may be served dried fruit most days, but some fresh fruit should be given each week.
6. Desserts:
One sweet dish (custards, cereal puddings, junkets) once or twice a day, but little if any clear sugar should be given (cereals should be served with very little if any sugar).
7. Fats:
| For each person over five | 2-3 oz. of fat (purchased as such) a day, depending upon the age and ability of the individual to digest fats. |
Suggestions for Serving Meals.—After reckoning the number of calories needed for the day, it is well to remember that the protein must be adequate in type and amount; that there should be an abundant supply of vitamines and iron in each day’s ration; that milk should always be included in order to make sure of having a sufficient amount of calcium in the diet; that there should be only one heavy protein dish at any one meal, and that it is unwise to serve a meal in which the fluids predominate on account of their deficiency in energy and proteins.
If a meal is made up of the right kind of foods, in the proper proportion, and each individual eats sufficient to assure the maintenance of the normal weight, is free from gastro-intestinal disturbances, and shows a normal resistance to disease, it is more than probable that a sufficient quantity is being consumed each day.
All foods should be carefully selected, and properly prepared in order to derive the maximum benefit therefrom, and the regularity and attractiveness with which the meals are served have almost as much to do with the health and happiness of the individual, as the character of the foods included in the day’s dietary.