People can establish a toleration to a
certain poison, and seemingly take it with impunity for a while. Some
arsenic eaters and morphine addicts take enough of their respective
drugs daily to kill a dozen normal men. However, the drugs, if not
stopped, always ruin the user in the end. It is the same way with food.
Children seem to establish a toleration for an excess for a shorter or
longer period of time, but the overeating always produces discomfort and
disease in the end, and if it is continued it will cause premature
death.
About one-third or one-fourth of what children eat is needed to nourish
them. The rest makes trouble. Read the chapters in this book on
overeating and on normal food intake. They give valuable pointers.
Parents know their children best, and the mother can, or should be able
to tell when there are signs of impending danger. If there is a decided
change in the child's disposition it generally denotes illness. Some
children become very sweet when they are about to be ill, but most of
them are so cranky that they make life miserable for the family. A foul,
feverish breath nearly always comes before the attack. A common danger
signal is a white line around the mouth.
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