Dear Doctor, My children, aged 9(boy) and 6(girl) have very poor appetite. They are very lean and under weight. They often fall sick at least once a month. I have no other choice except to have allopathic medicines even though I do not like it. They do not eat anything in the morning except milk (2 to 3 sips), that too after repeated requests or yelling. Some times at around 10:30am they drink 1/2 cup of orange juice along with a slice of bread with cheese. They come back from school at 2pm and they find it very difficult to eat although they may feel hungry. I do not know what is the suitable diet for them and at what intervals they have to be given food. In your lecture you often insist not to give any sour fruits. Does it mean that we should not give oranges (either juice or fruit). What are the fruits suitable for children? Is Milk necessary for them? Kindly elucidate on this. As they are still young, I want to go in a right direction instead of falling prey to allopathic medicines. We are from Tamil nadu living in Saudi Arabia. Thanks.
-siraj.
Any food that is not sour is suitable for children; to the best of my knowledge the only fruit that does not have sour taste is papaya fruit. But then you can taste each piece of orange or any other fruits one by one and eat those pieces that are sweet; and for this very important reason the fruit juice in which the extreme sour and sweet tastes are mixed, is not advisable. Any sour item causes throat irritation and then sneezing later on producing sore throat, cough, fever and phlegm formation. Indigestion due to sour food items is an inevitable disorder bound to develop in due course.
Milk is a very dangerous drink for it is turned sour by the acidity in the stomach; further the milk is no more milk for they contain many noxious chemicals and are already adulterated by adding the allopathic ingredients and removing the very essential fat and cholesterol. When a natural food is deprived of even an atom of its essential ingredient it is no more food but poison. So, never give milk and cause indigestion in the stomach. Straight away give them the home cooked food.
With regard to the appetite what you say is not correct. Every child does have appetite when the energy condition goes down. Appetite is based on the necessity to supply the energy. As the energy level goes down the need for food is automatic. You aught to wait for the appetite to appear before you feed them. It is absolutely wrong practice to feed the children three times a day and on fixed times. Clock time is not the feeding time but the time of appearance of the appetite is. Some times the appetite may not arise at all for the whole day. Don’t give the food unless they ask for it. It is worse for them if you force feed them; and it is best you leave them alone. If you practice this method your child will never fall sick by the grace of God.
The weight of the children is not a matter of concern at all; on the other hand it is the activity of the children that must be of concern. When they are very energetic and active and at the same time they are under weight and lean also, it actually shall not bother you. At the time when they have no complaints about their health they are very normal in every department of their system. If the doctors of various specialties give their reports as having abnormal reports in this organ and that organ, throw their reports on their faces for they are first rated quacks.