Man's supreme inheritance : $b Conscious guidance and control in relation to human evolution in civilizationAlexander, F. Matthias (Frederick Matthias)
Science
Man's supreme inheritance : $b Conscious guidance and control in relation to human evolution in civilization
To appreciate to the utmost the effect of training upon the children, we
must remember that the first tastes, likes, or dislikes of the infant
begin to be developed during the first two or three days after birth.
Long before the infant is a month old, habits, tending to become fixed
habits, have been developed, and if these habits are not harmful, well
and good. The first sense developed is the sense of taste, a sense that
develops very quickly and needs the most careful attention. Artificial
feeding is in itself a very serious danger, but when this feeding is in
the hands of careless or ignorant persons the danger becomes increased a
hundredfold. An instance of this is the common idea that considerable
quantities of sugar should be added to the milk. This is done very often
to induce the child to take food against its natural desire. It may be
that the child has been suffering from some slight internal derangement,
and Nature’s remedy has been to affect the child with a distaste for
food in order to give the stomach a rest. Then the unthinking mother
tempts the child with sugar, and all sorts of internal trouble may
follow. But in such a case as this the taste for a particular thing,
such as sugar, is encouraged, and apart from the direct harm which may
result, the habit becomes the master of the child, and may rule it
through life; the child, in fact, is sent out into the world the slave
of the sense of taste.
Unfortunately, in ninety cases out of a hundred, children up to the age
of six or seven years are allowed to acquire very decided tastes for
things which are harmful. Women are not trained for the sphere of
motherhood, they do not give these matters the thought and attention
they deserve, and hence they do not understand the most elementary
principles concerning the future welfare of their offspring in such
matters as feeding and sense guidance. Children are not taught to
cultivate a taste for wholesome, nourishing foods, but are tempted, and
their incipient habits pandered to, by such additions as the sugar I
have more particularly cited.
At the present time I know a child of five years old whose taste is
already perverted by the method, or lack of method, I have indicated.
This child dislikes milk unless undue quantities of sugar are added,
will not eat such food as milk puddings or brown bread, and has a strong
distaste for cream. It is almost impossible to make the child eat
vegetables of any kind, but he is always ready to take large quantities
of meat and sweets. The child is already suffering from malnutrition and
serious internal derangement. The latter would be greatly improved by
small quantities of olive oil taken daily, but it is only with the
greatest difficulty that the child can be induced to take it. If he
lives with his parents for the next ten years, he will grow into a weak
and ailing boy, and will suffer from the worst forms of digestive
trouble and imperfect functioning of the internal organs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account