290
Child Guidance
which it is unable to digest. Care and regularity in the feeding of
infants will not only promote health, and thus tend to make them quiet
and sweet-tempered, but will lay the foundation of habits that will be
a blessing to them in after years
Educate Tastes and Appetite—As children emerge from baby-
hood, great care should still be taken in educating their tastes and
appetite. Often they are permitted to eat what they choose and when
they choose, without reference to health. The pains and money so
often lavished upon unwholesome dainties lead the young to think that
the highest object in life, and that which yields the greatest amount
of happiness, is to be able to indulge the appetite. The result of this
training is gluttony, then comes sickness....
Parents should train the appetites of their children and should not
permit the use of unwholesome foods
Spiritual, Mental, and Physical Powers Influenced by Diet—
Mothers who gratify the desires of their children at the expense of
health and happy tempers are sowing seeds of evil that will spring
up and bear fruit. Self-indulgence grows with the growth of the little
ones, and both mental and physical vigor are sacrificed. Mothers who
do this work reap with bitterness the seed they have sown. They see
their children grow up unfitted in mind and character to act a noble
[380]
and useful part in society or in the home. The spiritual as well as the
mental and physical powers suffer under the influence of unhealthful
food. The conscience becomes stupefied, and the susceptibility to
good impressions is impaired
Choose the Best Foods—In order to know what are the best foods,
we must study God’s original plan for man’s diet. He who created man
and who understands his needs appointed Adam his food.... Grains,
fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our
Creator
Prepare Them in a Simple, Appetizing Way—God has fur-
nished man with abundant means for the gratification of an unper-
verted appetite. He has spread before him the products of the earth—a
bountiful variety of food that is palatable to the taste and nutritious
4
The Ministry of Healing, 383
.
5
The Ministry of Healing, 384
.
6
Counsels on Diet and Foods, 230
.
7
The Ministry of Healing, 295, 296
.