Table showing Increase of Calories required for a
Growing Child.
Age. Proteid. Fat. Carbo-hydrates. Calories.
years. grammes. grammes. grammes.
1½ 42.5 35.0 100 909.7
2 45.5 36.0 110 972.4
3 50.0 38.0 120 1050.4
4 53.0 41.5 135 1156.8
5 56.0 43.0 145 1224.0
8 to 9 60.0 44.0 150 1270.0
12 to 13 72.0 47.0 245 1736.8
14 to 15 79.0 48.0 270 1877.3
Hutchison, p. 453. Schroeder, Archiv. für Hygiene, iv. 39, 1886.
Children must have, for their best mental and physical development, a relatively larger proportion of proteid and fat in the dietary than their elders. The baby receives his proteid and fat from milk and cereals, but the older child needs, in addition to these, eggs, meat, and butter. Much of the pallor and stunted growth of some children is largely attributable to the lack of these very foods.
As carbohydrates furnish the cheapest form of food, they are almost never found wanting, and oftentimes are used to excess. Carbohydrate in the form of sugar, if injudiciously given, may prove harmful, but if used wisely, when it does not interfere with digestive processes, is a most useful fuel food.
The notion that sugar injures the teeth is largely a false one. If children are allowed to eat candy or cookies after the teeth have been brushed for the night, then the sweets which collect between them cause decay.
Milk, eggs, and meat are sources for furnishing mineral matter, but the chief value of fruit and vegetables lies in this food constituent, upon which tissue growth so much depends.
