Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-10-25
Motherhood
in Evolution
BY Frederic J. Ifaskil

propaganda and hard work, Of which
both the Childrens Bureau and the Child
Welfare Committee Of The Council Of
National Defense feel they have renson
to be proud.
During this short period seven million
children under six years of age have Deen
weighed and measured Thousands have
received medical treatment at the instl-
CATION of child welfare experts. Several
new state bureaus Of child hygiene have
been created; child welfare clinics have
shown a remarkable increase; playground
facilities have multiplied all over the
country, and thousands Of women are
now engaged in the important business OF
lnstilling into American mothers the
principles Of the new science Of mother
hood
Motherhood, like all other social in
stitutions, is in state Of evolution. II
Is constantly acquiring new rcspOnslOill-
ties. new problems and now working
methods Fifty years ago, when tins
country was only sparscly settled and the
struggle for existence was relatively
slight, il was not considered a difficult task
TO bring up family Of twelve. The ma
tion was then in an agricultural stage
food was abundant, there was plenty
Of room for the population to move
ABOUT and women were content 10 stny
at home and apply themselves 10 house
keeping. which had all the dignity Of an
important industry.
MIRO NEW STATE.
Today, we have entered an IndustrIG
stage; our population has increased
enormously: housekeeping has peen trans
ferred to- large extent from the home 10
the factory, and women, bereft Of their
old occupations, are pouring into INDUS
try. All this has had great influence
on the lives Of our children All this has
increased the responsibility Of parent
hood until now people often show them
selves incapable Of bringing mp family
of one Women. especially, have ap-
parently failed to realize that the busi-
ness Of motherhood has changed.
Not until the nited States began to
draft men for war did the government
realize tho necessity for bringing mother
hood up to date. for thc draft disclosed
the fact that large percentage Of The
male population was suffering from defects
caused by lack Of care in childhood
This fact, taken in connection with
our large infant mortglltv rate, led the
government to launch campaign for
the better care Of American children
On April the chidren's bureau, work
ing through tho remarkable organization
of the woInans committee of the Council
of National Defense. started its first drive
for he weighing and measuring Of chill
dren
THOUSANDS or WELFARE CLINICS
In all parts Of the country battles and
children under SIX years OF age were
weighed and measured Hundreds Of
thousands were placed upon scales n
child welfare clinics, IN grocery stores,
in the offices Of local physicians and in
their own homes, where their parents
weighed them Inasmuch Is the work
was done by different agencies il has been
impossible 10 gather any accurate sta
tistics as 10 health standards IN hc large
cities. where most Of the weighing and
measuring was carried on by very Ct
flcient physicians. the health average
was invariably lower than in the smaller
towns and rural districts where the weigh
ing and measuring vas done by Induigent
parents and their friends.
Brt everywhere a large number 0f chill
dren were found 10 be defective The
percentage nuns all the way from - to
10 per cent, but these percentages are
not based on the total child population.
because in no case was the total child
population weighed and measured. In =
New Jersey town, where % per cent Of
the child population was weighed and
measured So per cent were shown TO be
in need of medical treatment.
The result Of tins weighing and measur-
ing was To arouse puDIic sentiment N
favor of immediate remedial measures
The state of New Jersey, for example
provided department Of child hygiene
Several states appointed new sublic
health nurses and state supervisors OF
nursing In the state OF Connecticut a
map showing which towns have public
health nurses and which have not, to-
gether with some facts as TO the need Of
public health nurses, has been posted
on every official bulletin board through
out the state Florida created bureau
of education and child welfare. Wiscon-
sin now requires all of It's children 10 be
examined by its child welfare department
before they may enter school for the tlrst
time in that state.
TONsII4S AND ADENOIDS
The most common defects discovered
in children examined in all parts of the
country were tonsils and adenoids. In
&C, 900 children under six years of age
measured In California, 81 per cent were
found with abnormal tonsils and ade-
noids. Such defects are not always pain
fal and child welfare experts have had
great deal of trouble in persuading mothers
that they should be corrected. The danger
of a deformed nose or jaw through mouth
breathing. of infected neck glands, of
deafness, heart trouble and of general
poor health through abnormal tonSils
and adenoids does not always frighten the
mother of the defective one as much
as it should.
The following incident, which took
place in child welfare clinic not long
ago, illustrates the sort of mistaken ma
ternal sentiment which the child well
fare worker is always encountering:
Madame, your little boy has ade-
noids," said the examining physician.
Eyes, assented the little boys mother
cheerfully.
''They should be removed at once
continued the physician.
"Oh, no, could not have that done,
exclaimed the little boys mother, throw
ing protecting arm around her off
spring "His de ar father Is dead, and he
inherits them from his father | shall
not have them touched" +"
MALNUTRITIoN TOO.
Malnutrition was another common
cause of defects discovered in the weigh
ing and measuring tests, and now in al
most every state measures have been