The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-02-08
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORMATION BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HASKIN, Director,
Washington, D. C.
WEIGH YOUR BABY

| L. -, GU O"INc-
turns from the physical examination
| of drafted men show that 20 per cent
were physically unfit, and the chill
| dren's bureau has been able to show
that a large percentage of this physi-
cal unfitness was directly due to dis
eases of childhood; bad hearing, de-
| fective eyesight, even fiat feet have
been declared by the child experts to
be traceable to the nursery. Then,
too, 100000 babies die annually in
this country, altho health authorities
agree that one-half of these deaths
are preventable. Here is a national
/ waste that strikes at the root of our
man power.
| Beginning April 6, a nationwide
campaign to improve the health of
! American babies will be started by the
| children's bureau and the woman's
committee of the Council of National
| Defense. Under the direction of DIR.
Jessica Peixotto of the University of
California, who is on leave of absence
from the university for the purpose of
! taking charge of this work. the women
of every state will be organized into
child welfare committees dedicated to
| the conservation of infants.
The wholesale weighing of babies
will be the first step in this campaign,
and in this the cooperation of par
| ents is requested. A survey must be
made of our infant resources such as
| GO ACScHlly uHQSTidken Dy Ine Qe~
partment of agriculture in regard to
food For, like food, our infant re-
| sources may also be rated in pounds.
| Weight, in other words, is a definite
index to a chi1d's health.
If an infant a year old. for exam
| pie, Is FAR below the normal weight
OF his age, he is usually badly in need
| of the services of DOCTOR The chill
| dren's bureau is now preparing a baby
| card showing the normal weight of
each age, which will be distributed to
parents all over the country. On and
after April physicians will cooper
F., ate with the government by weighing
| babies and children under years old
| free of charge; infant welfare stations,
| maternity clinics, day nurseries will
| do the same, and grocerS, apothecarieS
and other merchants owning large
scales will also be asked to oblige
| parents.
Parents who find that their children
are underweight should Immediately
| procure medical advice. Parents who
fail to do this when they can afford it
| are guilty of criminal negligence in
the opinion of the children'S bureau
and the woman's committee. For
| those who are poor, assistance will be
provided. That is the chief purpose
of the campaign.
| The greatest need in com batting in
fart mortality is an adequate supply
| of doctors and nurses, but inasmucR
as doctors and nurses are usually
Woodworking bread winners and not
ladies and gentlemen of leisure, they
| must receive salaries. Hence, funds
must be raised. Every community
| which has any pride in reducing iti
infant mortality should be able to
raise the necessary money to hire doc
tors and nurses. In many small COM
i nunities all that will be needed is one
visiting nurse with a salary of 81, 500;
others will require many visiting
nurses working under the direction of
able physicians The expense of such
service will be borne in various ways
| by state legislatures by improvement
! clubs, by chambers of commerce and
by private subscriptions. In the state
of Illinois, the Elizabeth B. McCor-
mick memorial fund for child welfare
work will be used to raise the stand
ard of health of Illinois children.
| In time of war, however, when the
demands on state and individuals are
already very great, the expense of
kept at the very lowest margin.
Hence, the woman's committee will
have to rely to a great extent on vol
unteer workers. A meeting of public
health doctors and nurses has been
| called to consult with the woman's
committee and the children's bureau
on the question of raising a volun-
teer corps of nurses assistants who
will be known as III. II. VS." or
home health volunteers. These vol
unteers will not be nurses. and never
will be nurses. unless they take a
regular nurses. training course. They
will be patriotic women who are will
ing to devote their leisure to saving
the lives of American babies
In many American cities child well
fare work is already going forward
| with ancnnraPinQ ThpYa
state and municipal departments of
hygiene, infant welfare centers, ma
ternity clinics. day nurseries and milk
stations. The state of Kansas has a
confidential register of prospective
mothers which is used as a basis for
the protection of mothers and infants.
1t is the boast of Kansas women that
no baby dies in their state for lack of
medical attention.
The majority of states now provide
medical service for the schools; 9TH
ers district nurses and a few others
have mothers pensions, which permit
mothers to- stay at home and care for
their young children instead of leav-
ing them to the care of others while
they go out to work. Everywhere,
public opinion is gradually becoming
aroused to conditions that kill so
many babies every year, and cause an
, even greater number to grow up in
reform schools, institutions for the
eeble-minded and schools for the
backward.
In a large eastern city recently a
committee of child welfare workers
decided to try an experiment They
selected a group of ths thinnest most
manufacturing children from GER
tain school and, with the permission
, of their parents, put them on a diet
of simple, nourishing food. Within a
month these children presented a
changed appearance. They had gained
| in weight, energy, mental capacity and
initiative. They were healthy.
: One of the most important features
; of this new child welfare drive will
be to educate parents, for, in spite of
all the literature that has appeared on