WHY PSYCHOLOGISTS SAY:
DON’T FORCE CHILDREN
Ttfl FAT THINGS they
K U CH I DON'T LIKE
Variety Is Keynote of Cure —Dress Up
Food, Teach Them How to Cook. A Famous
Home Economist Shows You The Way.
By Betty Crocker
WHEN LITTLE JESSIE, aged
five, arrives at the “won’t eat —
I don’t like it” stage, what does
the average mother do? She either ap
plies the hairbrush to Jessie, or wheedles
her into taking each mouthful. Accord
ing to recent discussions of the subject
by the most competent authorities on
child psychology, either of these methods
is almost certain to lead to distressing
complications in the development of the
child.
Diana Holzheimer, eminent Chicago
authority on child care and training,
says: “Os course, children need substan
tial food and plenty of it, but they also
need to enjoy that food and to relax
while eating it. The pleasure of eating
can be utterly destroyed for a child who
knows that, regardless of taste or prefer
ence, he must eat what is served him—
because it is ‘good’ for him. He im
mediately Becomes tense and resistant,
a lump seems to come into his throat, it
is hard to swallow. How can he look
forward to mealtimes? How’ can he
properly digest the food he manages to
choke down?
“The child cannot understand his
mother’s anxiety to protect his health.”
she says. “He only knows that she makes
him eat food that he does not want.
Since he is made to eat it, he transfers
his dislike to the mother who forces it
upon him.
“Ingenuity and imagination when ap
plied to menu-making can work wonders.
Variety will stimulate curiosity and in
terest. Once interest is aroused, there
will be less difficulty in getting the child
to eat the food his growing body needs.”
Don't Coox the Child
Various eminent phychologists have ex
pressed virtually the same idea. “Coax
ing or bribing a child to eat,” says Dr.
Lorine Pruette, consultant psychologist
and noted child authority, “usually serves
only to intensify the child’s dislike for
the food in dispute. The child wants to
dominate the situation. If you do not
give in, he or she builds up what may
become a real dislike for the food.”
Dr. Samuel N. Stevens, noted Chicago
psychologist, agreed. “To be ef
fective, food must be'pmperly digested.
But few things upset a child’s digestion
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faster than ‘forceful feeding.’ The emo
tional strain of an argument all too fre
quently results in a ‘nervous’ stomach.”
Beulah France, R. N., noted New York
child authority, states: “My experience
as a registered nurse has proved to me
the inadvisability of forcing a child to
eat any particular food which is dis
tinctly disliked, unless the doctor has
definitely said that it must be included in
the diet. The many pediatricians with
whom I have discussed this problem have
all agreed that, with the exception of
milk, a satisfactory substitute can always
be found.
Men/ Time* .Should He Ha/tpr Timet
“Meal time should be a happy time
for children,” she says. “A cheerful atti
tude of mind makes them enjoy the food,
and enjoyment of food is a great aid to
digestion. Very often intestinal upsets,
which occur in the twenties or thirties,
or even perhaps in the forties, can be
traced back to the childhood days during
which the foundation is laid for health
throughout a lifetime.”
(rice Them Something Different
Variety is the keynote of cure, accord
ing to all these experts. And here is
where every mother can exercise her own
particular brand of ingenuity.
Next time little Jessie turns up her
infinitesimal nose at her carrots, don’t
scold or coax—just put your wits to work
and surprise Jessie into the kind of eat
ing habits that will make her grow up to
be a big strong girl. Or to make meals
even more interesting, plan menus she
can help prepare. Teach her to cook. If
she has a hand in the preparation of her
own food—no matter if she only stirs—
she will eat eagerly.
+ +
i Tfrafthitizing Foods for
(Childrens
Children love dramatized foods. It is
surprising how easily picturesque and
interesting dishes may be arranged to
tempt the most stubborn childish appe
tites.
PORCUPINES: A favorite “one-dish
meal”! Add ki cup uncooked rice to
1 lb. ground beef. Season with salt
and a little chopped onion. Shape into
balls, and drop into hot bacon drip
pings to brown on all sides. Then add
2 'A cups water, and cook 30 minutes
(or until rice is done). Then add 2
cups canned tomatoes and 5 potatoes
(pared and cut in halves lengthwise).
Season with more salt and pepper, and
cook another 30 minutes. As the rice
cooks, it puffs up and pops out of the
meat balls . . . reminding one of
bristling porcupines.
TURTLES: Peel 6 medium-sized
potatoes, remove the center of each
with apple corer, and draw a frank
furter or wiener through each hole.
Place in baking pan with 4 tbsp. drip
pings and 1 cup milk. Bake 1 hour in
a moderate oven, 350° F. They look
just like turtles in their shells!
THREE MEN IN A BOAT: Hollow
t
...
vE
; • § "
out part of a baked potato so that it
resembles a boat, and fill the hollow
with creamed chipped beef and peas.
(Be sure to frizzle the beef in butter
before adding it to the cream sauce
... to improve the flavor.) Cut a sail
from a firm piece of cheese and make
it stand upright in the boat with the
aid of a wooden pick. Three mush
rooms on edge of potato boat are “3
men.”
THREE-RING CIRCUS: Creamed
Chicken, Mashed Potato, Peas and
Carrots . . . each in a Toast Ring!
CARROT EGGS IN SPINACH
NESTS: Arrange small pieces of
cooked buttered carrots to resemble
“eggs” in “nests” formed of cooked
spinach.
EGGS AND CHEESE IN ASPARA
GUS NESTS: Place poached or shir
red egg on a round of toast. Surround
it with creamed asparagus to form
a “nest.”
CASSEROLE SURPRISE: Arrange
alternate layers of cut-up cooked left
over vegetables and white sauce in a
buttered baking dish. Cover with
buttered crumbs or wheaties. Bake
20 minutes in a moderate oven, 350° F.
Ihe “mystery” of what the dish con- g
tains will fascinate the children!
BIRD’S NEST PUDDING: Apples
and custard baked together ... to
look like a whole row of birds’ nests in
a field of yellow flowers! Place 8 cored
apples in a shallow baking dish (8 by
12 inches), sprinkle them with sugar
and cinnamon, and partially bake them
for Vi hour. Make a custard by mixing
together 3 beaten eggs, 1/3 cup sugar, •
I tap. salt, y 2 tsp. nutmeg, and 3 cups
milk. Strain, and pour around the
apples in the baking dish. Bake 1 hour
in a slow oven, 325° F.
< AKE LOLLYPOPS: Put daintily
colored cake squares on ends of lolly
pop sticks. Arrange them in a flower
holder in center of a large plate or
platter . . . with balls of ice cream
around.
BUNNY PEARS: Half of a cooked
pear will look just like a bunny If
you press into it 2 long almonds for
< a v?:. a p . ,e ? e °* or cherry for
a little pink nose, 2 cloves for the eyes,
an . < | * marshmallow for the
cottontail. A little carrot made of
yellow cheese for the bunny to nibble
on always delights the children.