[Report 1932] / School Medical Officer of Health, Hertfordshire County Council.

  • Hertfordshire (England). County Council. n 50062101.
Date:
1932
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1932] / School Medical Officer of Health, Hertfordshire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    frequently brought before me at school medical inspection ; that is, the tendency of parents, especially those who are anxious or particularly conscientious, to discuss ailments, or the factors which they consider produce them, in front of their children. I think this is very often harmful and also hampering to their efforts to obtain improvement. To say before a child that it won’t eat, that it can’t drink milk, that it won’t sleep alone, that it is frightened of the dark, is often exactly the way to prolong these conditions ; it is merely drawing the child’s attention to what we want it to forget. The simple rules of health which are so easily spoken demand much hard work and patience from the parent if they are to be carried out efficiently ; unfortunately the conditions obtaining in some homes render their observance particularly difficult, but I am satisfied that until they are more universally acted upon a further improve- ment in the physique and general health of the child is not to be looked for. When conducting school medical inspections I am therefore at pains to remind parents of these matters, and to urge on them their great importance. The parents who have attended Infant Welfare Centres where they have been well grounded in these matters work under the great advantage of having been able to accustom their children to proper habits from the earliest time. Dr. Harvey (Bushey, Chorleywood, Watford Rural). The health of the children attending the elementary schools in the Bushey, Chorleywood, and Watford rural districts in 1932, was satisfactory; and improvement was noticed on that of the previous year. The incidence of infectious disease was low. Considerable attention was devoted to the nutrition of the school children, and advice was given to parents when necessary. The diet of a child, particularly in the earlier years, plays a very important part in the building up of its physique, and its resistance to disease, both in childhood and later in adult life. Such an important influence—the most important, probably, in the life of a child—deserves the closest attention ; and as the food of a family is almost entirely the concern of the mother, the various organizations interested in the improvement of housecraft are doing work of the greatest value in trying to raise the standard of cooking, and generally of domestic economy, to a higher level. The instruction in domestic economy given in schools is a means towards the same end, and there is reason to believe that it is already proving »