EMACIATION
Causes.—Errors in diet, overwork, over-exercise, heredity, nervousness, worry, malformation of the mouth, throat, or stomach, heredity and certain pathological conditions, such as typhoid fever, tuberculosis, anemia, dysentery, etc., in which the breaking down of the tissues occurs more rapidly than they can be rebuilt.
Children are often emaciated on account of their unbalanced diet. They receive an insufficient amount of building food to cover their growth and development requirements. Parents are often to blame for allowing the child to overeat of some of the food constituents at the expense of others. Sugar, for example, is very necessary in the diet of a growing active child, but all sugar and very little milk and eggs will lead to an unbalanced diet which may bring about a condition of extreme thinness later on.
In Adults the constant eating of the wrong foods, overworking and persistent worrying, all contribute to the breaking down of the tissues which ends in emaciation.
Weight is an index to health. Any persistent loss of weight on the part of an adult or loss or even failure to gain in a growing child, are indications that all is not right and immediate measures must be taken to locate and relieve the trouble.
Loss of Weight due to pathological conditions can only be relieved by removing the cause, after which the diet may be adjusted to suit the condition.
Dietetic Treatment is practically the only means of combating and overcoming emaciation, since it is by food alone that the body is built.
Fat-forming foods, which in obesity were prohibited, have a prominent place in the diet for emaciation. Padding the nerves and organs with a layer or covering of fat protects them from the jars and shocks incidental to daily life, besides lending grace and contour to the body.
Foods Which Produce Fat are nutrient beverages of all sorts; milk, malted milk and cream are especially valuable; water, because of its particular properties and functions in the body; and fruit beverages, which are made chiefly of water and sugar, are always included in the dietary. Milk and cream, soups and milk gruels, as well as all dishes made with milk or cream, add materially to the fat-forming quality of the diet. Butter, olive and other salad oils, as well as cereals, potatoes, bread and simple desserts are advised. The diet must be bountiful, the meals frequent, and lunches consisting of milk or cream with crackers will hasten the gain in weight.
Rest, preferably lying down, is absolutely essential. A period of relaxation covering from fifteen to thirty minutes should be taken before or after each meal. The body derives the use of the food for the storage of fat which would otherwise be required to cover its energy expenditures.