Feeding behavior

“ I have heard a lady say with a tone of virtuous rebuke, when the conversation turned from fashions to cooking, "I give very little time to cooking, we eat to live only"—which is exactly what an animal does. Eating to live is mere feeding. ”

“ Not only the general health of the individual but also the quality of the teeth, the efficiency of the digestive system, the desire for stimulants, the stability of the nervous system, the quality of mental activity, power of will, strength of character, the happiness or misery of everyday living, are profoundly affected by the foods and régime of feeding during childhood. ”

“ From the moment of parting with the milk as sole nourishment, from the moment of passing on to the mixed nourishment that is peculiar to its species, the second important change in the feeding of the growing individual is accomplished. ”

“ Examples of bad methods of feeding are, coaxing or forcing to eat, rapid eating with insufficient mastication eating between meals, allowing a child to have his own way in selecting his food, as when he lives largely upon a single article of diet. Things to be considered under the head of improper food are, indulgence in sweets, desserts, etc., the use of imperfectly cooked foods, especially cereals and vegetables, and of raw or stale fruits. ”

“ For this reason it is justifiable in the feeding of man to expend upon the mere social features of the meal a sum which often is equal to or greater than that expended for the mere purpose of nutrition. ”

“ With their overflowing supply of food also, each new mouth in the household brings no drain on their means. Children are a blessing, and the mere feeding of a young boy or girl is not considered at all. ”

“ Disguise it as we may the fact remains that the feeding of a people is of first importance, seeing the feeding is the great essential to success, either social or commercial. The farmer and stock raiser gives special attention to feeding, usually more to the feeding of his animals than of his children, or of himself. ”

“ This food must be served au naturel, without the predigestion which deprives it of stimulating and nourishing properties and no sort of forcible feeding or spoon feeding may be practised. Hungry minds sit down to such a diet with the charming greediness of little children; they absorb it, assimilate it and grow thereby in a manner astonishing to those accustomed to the dull profitless ruminating so often practised in schools. ”

“ The joy of eating when food comes compensates for the previous scantiness of the fare. There are deaths from insufficient alimentation; ten to one are the deaths traceable to over-feeding. There is suffering for lack of food. ”

“ In circumstances where there is no want of abundant nutriment, over-feeding or complicated forms of food, suitable only for older persons, produce for this infant troubles which are no less grave than those of the former. ”

“ The food question is undoubtedly the most important problem to the physical welfare of the child, and has, as well, a most profound effect upon his disposition and character. Indiscriminate feeding is the cause of much of the trouble and worry of mothers. ”

“ It is a further fact, known to physiologists, that the enjoyment given by a much-liked food is a nervous stimulus, which, by increasing the action of the heart and so propelling the blood with increased vigour, aids in the subsequent digestion. And these truths are in harmony with the maxims of modern cattle-feeding, which dictate a rotation of diet. ”

“ But here, again, though there may be no special organs set apart for the preparation, absorption, and digestion of food, the process of feeding is essential to the life of all animals. Stop that process for a sufficient length of time, and they inevitably die. ”

“ That [411] person, then, who enjoys the best health, the keenest mentality and power of perception, the highest physical and emotional organism, is he who can select such articles of food as will supply all the constituent parts of the body most nearly in the right or natural proportions. The science of feeding, upon which this mainly depends, becomes possible only when food is taken in accordance with certain fixed, natural laws. ”

“ The influence of this experiment in feeding is important not merely because of the positive nourishment given to the pupils but also because of the example which it sets in proper standards of eating at home. Many families do not281 know how to feed children. The son of a truck driver who breakfasts with his father on coffee, sausage, and griddle-cakes will spend the morning trying to digest the food which is appropriate to his father’s occupation but not to the sedentary life of the scholar. ”

“ If these principles in nourishment fail, the nourishment of the animal will be cut off; if they obtain them, then the grass-feeding animal gets the same principles in his food as those upon which the flesh-eater entirely depends. Vegetables produce in their organism the blood of all beings. So that when the flesh-eaters consume the blood and flesh of the vegetable-eaters, they take to themselves exactly and simply the vegetable principles. ”

“ Object.—Rational feeding of man has for its object the regulation of the food supply in accord with the demands of the body. It is based upon the same principles as the rational feeding of animals; in each, the best results in the way of health, amount of labor performed, and economy are secured when the body receives nutrients sufficient for the production of heat and energy and for the repair of worn-out tissues. Rational feeding is simply regulation of the food, both as to kind and amount, to meet the needs of the body. ”

“ It is known that withholding food from the organism, or in other words the creation of a necessity for food, does not lead immediately, nor in all cases, to the production of an appetite, to a passionate craving for food. How often does it happen that the ordinary hour for a meal has struck, and yet, owing to some keenly interesting occupation, not the least desire for food is felt? It is known to everybody, indeed it has become a proverb, that real appetite first sets in with eating. ”

“ The interval of feeding should rather be lengthened than otherwise in order to give the digestive organs an opportunity to regain the normal desire for food. Pay strict attention to the bowels. Be certain the child has a daily satisfactory movement and that he drinks frequently between meals. ”

“ The opening chapters are invaluable to those whose duty it is to care for the sick, and of equal importance to those who see in correct feeding the way of preventing much of the illness about us. The chapter on Infant Feeding is an authoritative guide to aid in the development of the baby, and child feeding is considered with like care. ”

“ And it is an experience almost universally avowed, that the desire for food is keener, that the satisfaction in gratifying appetite is greater and more enjoyable, on the part of the general light feeder than with the almost exclusively flesh-feeder. For this designation is applicable to almost all those who compose the middle-class population of this country. They consume little bread and few vegetables; all the savory dishes are of flesh, with decoctions of flesh alone for soup. ”

“ Feeding must depend on their work, but they require feeding three times a day, with more or less corn each time, according to their work. In the fast coaching days it was a saying among proprietors, that "his belly was the measure of his food;" ”

“ The frame of mind in which one may happen to be is also a matter of importance. If our thoughts are preëngaged, or if we are in trouble, we have no desire for food. The presence of a sprightly child, or of friends, at the board, is a true condiment. How different is the process of digestion when a meal is taken in full view of a pleasing landscape, or behind the bars of a prison-cell! ”

“ Hunger controls his eating, and therefore he always enjoys his food. If we were to eliminate many of the mechanical processes involved in the preparation of our foods, there would be little or no necessity for instruction in eating, for, if we ate our food in a natural state, we would be compelled to masticate it, and this is the fundamental requirement of healthy digestion. ”

“ Advantages of the Natural Feeding of Infants.—The natural method of nourishment—that is to say, suckling at the maternal breast, is the only method of infant-feeding which properly complies with natural requirements. ”

“ In domestic feeding arrangements, although usually the choice of foods is determined by the state of the markets, the preferences of the various members of the family, and the abilities of the cook, it is astonishing how closely the result will correspond in the long run to the figures here given. ”

“ Something then wherein we differ from them; our habit of altering our food by fire, so that our appetite is no longer a just criterion for the fitness of its gratification. Except in children there remains no traces of that instinct which determines, in all other animals, what aliment is natural or otherwise; and so perfectly obliterated are they in the reasoning adults of our species, that it has become necessary to urge considerations, drawn from comparative anatomy, to prove that we are naturally frugivorous. ”

“ Not only must the body have the right food for each requirement, but it must have each type of food in proper amounts. The meal must be balanced—that is, it must contain energy-giving, tissue-building, function-regulating, and growth foods in right proportions. ”

“ When they have children, there must be some help in a farmer's or tradesman's house, but until then, what call is there for a servant in a house, the master of which has to earn every mouthful that is consumed?
Eating and drinking come three times every day; they must come; and, however little we may, in the days of our health and vigor, care about choice food and about cookery, we very soon get tired of heavy or burnt bread, and of spoiled joints of meat. ”

“ We are encamped in nature, not domesticated. Hunger and thirst lead us on to eat and to drink; but bread and wine, mix and cook them how you will, leave us hungry and thirsty, after the stomach is full. ”

“ Thus Nature goes on to care for us. I had two brothers and two sisters, and we all throve and grew rapidly with the nourishment of our mother’s milk alone, until we were six weeks old, when she began to supply us with other food, such as rabbits, and rats and mice, which she tore to pieces and divided amongst us in equal shares, not however so much to our satisfaction as to prevent our snarling and quarrelling with each other thus early over our meals. ”

“ Eat only to satisfy hunger, and not to qualify the palate after hunger is satisfied. Do not eat a great variety, because digestion is easier and more perfect with but few articles. Let there be a variety which is successive, and not at one meal. ”

“ Regular meals at, usually, unbroken intervals--dinner, never more than five hours after breakfast; luncheon, unnecessary; animal food, once certainly, in some lighter form, twice a day--are the suggestions of common sense followed out in most well-regulated households. But it is not the food which is eaten, but the food which is digested, that nourishes body and brain. ”

“ Excessive stimulus checks the growth, or causes early disease, sacrificing either the health or life of the being. The feeder knows, from experience, that the quantity of nutriment must be measured by the powers of the creature that consumes it ”

“ We have already seen that appetite as well as hunger may lead to the taking of food. Indeed, the animal with all gastro-intestinal nerves cut may have the same incentive to eat that a well-fed man may have, who delights in the pleasurable taste and smell of food and knows nothing of hunger pangs. ”

“ Bear in mind, then, that the smaller the quantity of the milk and water given at a time, the oftener must it be administered, as, of course, the babe must have a certain quantity of food to sustain life. ”

“ Furthermore, the habit of eating hurriedly, or hastily, is preying upon the vital and moral forces of many of us. A meal eaten hastily or nervously, under the pressure of intense mental activity or nervous tension, or great weariness, begins its work of nutrition under the greatest possible disadvantage. ”

“ A labouring man, for example, working hard each day, would require such foods as liver and bacon, steak, bullock's heart, beans, peas, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, &c.; foods, in fact, that would not be too easily digested. Hard work causes the food to be assimilated more readily. A too easily digested fare would cause a constant feeling of hunger. 11For anyone, on the contrary, leading a sedentary life, the food taken could not be too digestible. In that case, mutton, plainly cooked chicken, soles, milk puddings, and lightly boiled eggs should be the kind of viands chosen. ”

“ Owing to the marked individuality which man exhibits in the selection of his food, and to the intimate relationship subsisting [115] between food and the organism it nourishes, it is impossible to arrange the alimental substances in the strict order of their nutritive values. You can bring a horse to the water, but you cannot compel him to drink it; you can swallow any kind of food you please, but you cannot force your stomach to digest it. ”

“ In a healthy state of the body, as soon as the blood has lost its nutritive supplies, the craving of hunger is felt, and then, if the food is suitable, and is taken in the proper manner, this sensation ceases as soon as the stomach has received enough to supply the wants of the system. But our benevolent Creator, in this, as in our other duties, has connected enjoyment with the operation needful to sustain our bodies. In addition to the allaying of hunger, the gratification of the palate is secured by the immense variety of food, some articles of which are far more agreeable than others. ”