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In message Tue, 21 Mar 1995 21:51:31 -0500,
  Don Wiss <[log in to unmask]>  writes:

> I have not raised kids, but I do look to the past as a guide to what we
> should be doing. What is the purpose of teething biscuits? In prehistory
> (and in undeveloped countries) babies were nursed for 2-3 years and ate
> nothing else. Biscuits didn't exist.

Don, I agree that teething biscuits are a new (and probably unnecessary)
food for infants and small children.  However, I am an archaeologist
specializing in prehistoric nutrition and I have to take exception to
your comment regarding breastfeeding as the sole source of nutrition for
the under-three crowd.  As anyone who has ever nursed a toddler knows, it
is very difficult to prevent nursing kids over the age of about 6 months
or so from eating whatever it is their parents have.  They fuss and whine
and insist they really want whatever you have, regardless of whether or
not they are capable of ingesting it.  I don't know too many parents who
don't give in and give their kids at least a taste of "the real
thing"--in my daughter's case, it was cooked white rice at 4 months.  She
loved it, and it went down just fine.

I realize that the archaeological literature is full of articles on "the
weaning gruels hypothesis" (that agriculture and its emphasis on cooked
grains reduced the average inter-birth interval by enabling moms to wean
kids at earlier ages, accounting for the large jumps in population growth
seen when agriculture comes into an area).  However, there are no living
cultures where breast milk is the sole source of nutrition for children
up to age three.  There are groups where the mother feeds the child
pre-chewed food, just as in many animal groups.  It is really amazing
what a child CAN eat, with very few teeth.

I agree that most celiacs will be following the diet that most humans
followed before the advent of agriculture:  lots of vegetables, fruits,
and meat.  Before agriculture in most parts of the world grains would
have been a very small part of the diet.

Sorry about the length of this response!

Laura Johnson-Kelly
[log in to unmask]
Ithaca, NY, USA