The Washington herald., 1912-10-26
Topics of Interest to Every Woman
EDITED BY JULIA CHANDLER MANI
Boys and Girls Should Be
Taught Hygie1ic Habits
BIZ FRANCES sHAFFER.

When a young woman consulted q
| physician for some trifing Ill not long
ago. among other questions he asked
her-what about breathing! DO you
take long. full inhalations?
It was foolish, but her only answer
was a laugh. And do you know why?
She thought of what nature and
science had told her to do. then remem-
bered her little. grudging breaths, so
tiny that they scarcely caused ripple.
breaths that ended almost before they
began, and II was so ridiculous that
the laugh came before the next sober
thought.
BY all that was wise and hygienic
she knew that she souid have expanded
the lower chest in inhaling. instead OF
which she breathed as IL the air was
tainted and her aim was to take in as
little as she could and breathe at all.
No wonder that she laughed-or wept.
And why is it? Surely We are lee
tured enough, down to the minutest de-
tails. and the laws or hygiene are put
before up in newspapers. in magazines,
and by our family physicians. We know
we should breathe deeply. exercise faith
fully. sleep regularly. and be temperate
in all things.
But with many of us the knowledge
comes when habits of living are all
formed and We are inclined to take the
easiest way. II We had been taught all
these things in school and at home per-
haps We might take to them more nat
urally all through life. But as 1t Is, we
have grown welded to old habits Of
breathing and other bad tricks that
violate natures most urgent laws. and 1t
is hard to follow the very things We
know contribute to health.
Rtt Rewtlderinr
Years and years ago school authorities
insisted that the little folk sit prim and
erect. with arms stiff1y folded, as a dis
cipline to their bodies. or their minds. or
something else. Then some one dis
covered that the only result was round
shoulders, and SO the little ones We're
permitted to relax.
1t sometimes is a bit bewildering to
read all the varied subjects that folk
think should be included in school train
ing but 1t does seem that We might
better skip some Of the frills that are
creeping in and devote more time and
thought to practical training in hygienie
living.
There is nothing that carries down the
years a greater fund of pure Joy than
perfect health. and many OF our deYia-
tons from that fair estate come from a
blend of carelessness and ignorance.
Through ignorance We blunder into one
bad habit, through neglect we fall into
another. and Il. as boys and girls, we
were started Alright it would be just as
easy to take the right way as the wrong.
Matter OF Habit.
For the wrong way may be very ugly,
too. as well as hurtful to physical de-
veiopment. This morning ! saw such
ratty little rig and when looked at the
only occupant, a man. the first impulse
was to call him a plain rowdy. But then
1 looked again-and I did not know.
He was young and fairly good-looking.
but he was all bent over like an old,
old man, his shoulders rounded out and
his whole physical attitude an ugly
slump. i suspect that everybody who
looked at him at all instinctively
straightened up and squared his shoul-
ders, for it spoke SO very eloquently Of
the rankest personal carelessness. II he
had learned to sit properly and to stand
as he should, just as he probably learned
to read and to write. perhaps he might
not have fallen into that rowdy-pose.
For habits take mighty strong hold
uron most of us. whether 1t is the habit
OF stingy breathing or something worse.
and they generally take their toll in
Ie ssened health. certainly in lessened
grace.
When boys and girls are taught more
hygienic ways Of living. are clearly
shown the proper course to follow and
warned of the dangers of the improper.
We shall not need SO many lectures. and
we shall not see SO many unsightly
from natures plan
But 1t is only as they do them over and
over again, just as they take their other
lessons. that they will form hygienic
habits that will make them healthier.
more energetic. and far more slightly.