Montessori Says....Never Feed Children Fresh Vegetables?

For my Early Childhood Development course, we are assigned to pick two theorists of early age human development for our final research paper. Being a graduated Montessori student (3rd through 12th grade), I wanted to research the theories and methods behind the way I was taught.

While researching the lovely Marie Montessori, I came across something that REALLY blew me away. In one of her first books, The Montessori Method: Scientific Pedagogy As Applied to Child Education in the Children's Houses, she dedicates one of here chapters to the nutrition of the child. Some of the quotes that shocked me were:

"The diet of little children must be rich in fats and sugar: the first for reserve matter and the second for plastic tissue. In fact, sugar is a stimulant to tissues in the process of formation."

"Milk Foods. All cheeses are to be excluded from the child's diet. The only milk product suitable to children from three to six years of age is fresh butter."

"Green Vegetables. Children must never eat raw vegetables, such as salads and greens, but only cooked ones; indeed they are not to be highly recommended wither cooked or raw, with the exception of spinach which may enter with moderation into the diet of children. Potatoes prepared in a puree with much butter form, however, an excelent complement of nutrition for children."

When I read these quotes, I was very disappointed! How could someone I have been taught to admire, be so wrong about the health of a child, especially when that person is known for her theories of a healthy childhood development?

So I decided to do further research about this to see why people allowed her to publish such theories.

Turns out that this book was published in 1912, the same year that vitamins were discovered. Therefore, people during that time did not know what foods were healthy and which were not because it was just starting to be researched. Most of people's theories on health were based off foods that protected them from getting diseases. For instance, milk was not as safe to drink as it is today (in the sense of cleanliness, not hormone-free). Pasteurization of milk had only been going on for about 50 years and was not fully adopted by all farmers. At that time, drinking milk could cause people to get ill. Same goes with eggs and meat. Salmonella was one of the bacterias feared at the time. That is why reducing the amount of eggs and meats would have looked beneficial. On the other hand, with carbs and sugars, people didn't have to be afraid about getting sick if they ate them because they were free from any bacterias and diseases.

However, we now know that sugar is not the most important thing for children to consume. If anything, sugar should be the food group most avoided. And we know that milk (or the vitamins in it) is important for children to consume from birth to 5 years of age. It provides many of the essential vitamins needed for a healthy, growing body such as calcium, B vitamins, and protein. And with vegetables, we now know that they are the most important food group for children through development. They contain to most nutrients and minerals than any other food group.

Shows you how much times have changed, huh?

So overall, I was pleasantly surprised to learn this about Maria Montessori. It's funny how perfect moments like this one occurs; I wasn't planning on learning more about nutrition, but somehow my homework for a completely different topic magically brought me to another interesting event in the history of nutrition. Crazy! I guess it's meant to be! :)