Feeding of Children
131
child is fast following in his steps, and not one of your children is safe
from this evil.
Testimonies for the Church 3:136
Children are allowed to eat flesh-meats, spices, butter, cheese,
pork, rich pastry, and condiments generally. They are also allowed to
eat irregularly and between meals of unhealthful food. These things do
their work of deranging the stomach, exciting the nerves to unnatural
action, and enfeebling the intellect. Parents do not realize that they are
sowing the seed which will bring forth disease and death.
Testimonies for the Church 4:140-141
The power of Satan over the youth of this age is fearful. Unless
their minds are firmly balanced by religious principle, their morals
[60]
will become corrupted by the vicious children with whom they come
in contact. You think you understand these things, but you fail to
fully comprehend the seducing power of evil upon youthful minds.
Their greatest danger is from a lack of proper training and discipline.
Indulgent parents do not teach their children self-denial. The very food
they place before their children is such as to irritate the tender coats of
the stomach. This excitement is communicated to the brain through
the nerves, and the result is that the animal passions are aroused and
control the moral powers. Reason is thus made a servant to the lower
qualities of the mind. Anything which is taken into the stomach and
converted into blood, becomes a part of the being. Children should not
be allowed to eat gross articles of food, such as pork, sausage, spices,
rich cakes and pastry; for by so doing their blood becomes fevered, the
nervous system unduly excited, and the morals are in danger of being
affected. It is impossible for any one to live intemperately in regard to
diet, and yet retain a large degree of patience. Our heavenly Father sent
the light of health reform to guard against the evils resulting from a
debased appetite, that those who love purity and holiness may use with
discretion the good things He has provided for them, and by exercising
temperance in their daily lives, may be sanctified through the truth.