Every drop of water taken beyond one's needs has to be excreted and causes overwork for the body and an increased cell-metabolism. Increased cell-metabolism is identical with increased cell-consumption, and we must regulate the question of drinking from this stand-point without, however, forgetting the powers of compensation of the human body. A practical rule is this: The child should drink when it is thirsty, but its food should be of such quality that it does not feel thirsty as a rule.
We say advisedly "as a rule," because it would be cruel and wrong to deny the child to quench its thirst when it has been running, jumping or playing hard, or when it is perspiring freely, due to the atmospheric conditions. The habit of taking large amounts of water is only a matter of imitation and a bad habit. The water pitcher is not so essential an adjunct of the dinner table as it is still considered. The composition of the food offered the child should be such as not to let it get thirsty, and adults should set a good example in this.
In order to prevent the feeling of thirst the food should contain much water and should be prepared with much water, and this is the easier the more fresh, green vegetables and fruit are used. Then all strong spices and much salt, the stimulants demanded by the jaded appetite of the adult, should be avoided in the food for children, which should be cooked as blandly as possible. Pepper, especially, should never
be allowed, but the savory herbs and roots of the old-fashioned kitchen garden may be used to advantage. Vinegar should not be given to young children, even in older ones lemon juice should be substituted for it. The amount of sodium chloride plays the largest role in suppressing the feeling of thirst, as no other mineral is offered the system in equally large amounts. Salt is found in unlimited amounts in each kitchen and even on the table which greatly facilitates its excessive consumption. Small amounts of salt are undoubtedly needed, but not more than .0• Cm. per kg. daily, and every additional Gin. of sodium chloride consumed carries a greater demand for water. Now, if we take too much water not. only will the excess of sodium chloride be excreted, but also certain amounts of other salts which were not in excess and which will thus be lost to the body, and we will easily understand how an excessive consumption of table salt, and consequently of water, may affect the body of the growing child which is in the most active stage of bone formation.