St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1920-04-03
LETTER OF THE RED CROSS PUB
Lie HEALTH NURSE.

This week I wish to say a few
words about malnutrition in child
rem. There are hundreds of thous-
ands of children in the United States
who are malnourished. In visiting
the schools of St. Tammany parish
we find the children here are no ex-
cept.on to the rule, and in fact. IN
some of the schools the percentage
of melnourished is very high indeed.
The people Of our parish must be
brought to a realization of the in
justice that Is being done these child
rem, end the children, as patriotic
citizens, must make special effort
to bring themselves up.
The question naturally arises,
what is Malnutrition?" Is 1t
disease? Unfortunately not. If 1t
were an infectious disease steps
would have been taken long ago TO
stamp it out. It is not a disease at
all, out a low condition Of health and
body substance.
A description of the "signs and
symptoms" of malnutrition will give
a clearer idea than a definition, but
for the sake of contrast look first at
the we'll nourished child. He meas
ures up to the standards of weight
and height. He has good color.
bright eyes, and smooth, glossy hair;
his carriage is good, his stey elastic,
his flesh firm and his muscles we'll
developed. He is usually happy
and cheerful; he is brimful of spirit,
always active, both mental any
+, ri DO 10
appetite good, his bowels regular.
He IS what he was intended to be -
a happy, healthy animal.
Now, look at the malnOurished
child-and the sad part of it is We
are all too familiar with him. We
see him every day, everywhere. He
Is usually thin, but he may be lat
and flabby instead. His skin is pale
sallow or muddy, his hair rough, and
his chest narrow. Decayed tech.
adenoids, enlarged or diseased ton
sis may be present. He is listless IN
work and is often considered lazy
He Is easily fatigued, both mentally
and physically, and often backward
at school. He is peculiarly susce3-
tible to disease and is always catch
ing whatever happens to be making
the rounds.
These are some of the distinctions
between the malnOurished and a
wei nourished child. There are all
degrees of under nutrition from
those with every symptom to those
with no definite symptoms, but who
just seem to be somehow below par.
;rr1 ir a1r ncf 70 in
result of faulty nutrition, and many
doctors class children as malnourish-
ed by this one symptom aolne. Any
child who Is as much as ten per cent
under weight for his height, or who
does not gain at the normal rate cal
safely be classed with the malnour-
ished
Malnutrition is something that H.
great majority of cases is prevent
able and durable. Its detection re-
quires no medical knowledge. The
weight of a child and his rate of gain
usually tell the story.
We consider the finest thing to 10
is to interest the children in the
game of getting weighed and mels-
ured, and in comparing their conii-
ton with the average, and in letting
the parents know their weight and
rate of gain. That is why we arc
recommending that scales, and class
room weight records, be placed in
every school. We hope to have every
child weighed and measured every
month, and have this recorded on
his monthly report. I wish that each
parent could see how keenly inter-
ested the child Is as he steps upon
the scales and could hear the dis
cussions that take place upon the
Fairgrounds after weighing.
We hope that the parents will en-
courage the children in their III
terest. The child has no interest IN
health, for health's sake, and this ls
natural, but every girl desires to be
beautiful, and every boy wants to he
strong and athletic, and the wise
parent will build upon the natu al
interests of the children, and inspire
them to do the things which will re-
suit in physical beauty and strength.
l haven't the space to go into the
causes and effects of malnutritio1,
but hope to take that up next week.
Yours for healthy, happy child
hood,
JANELLA LANSING,
Red Cross Public Health Nurse for
n