Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-09-09

Washington, sept. o.-!s .Ho Juosy
celebrated climate of California breea-
ing a race Of giants on the IaelI,c
coast The scientists of the chlloren
bureau In Washington think that 1T is,
although with true scientific caution
they qualify their opinion with a per
haps." At any rate, it is certainly
true that, age for age, the scnool cnn-
dren of California are consloeraoiy
taller and heavier than the run OF
school children the country over; ana
the experts in Washington can 1ind
no better explanation OF the pnenom-
enon than that of favorable climate.
The discovery that California, and
there is nothing in the record TO IN
dicate that the same would not De true
Of children of Oregon and Washington
are physically superior to American
children as a whole, was the most not.
| able revelation made in the study OF
| school children during the "Children,s
/ Year. as the year 1918 was called,
| In that twelve-month some 2,OOo,OOU
American school children, g years old
and under, were weighed and meas
ured under the supervision of the chill
dren's bureau. No study OF human
growth on such a scale had ever before
been conducted in this country. Ihe
records have now undergone analysis
by the government statlstlcians, ana
their conclusions are of great practlcal
interest.
The tabulations show that California
children are two fifths Of an inch taller
and three-quarters of a pound heavier
than children of the same age the coun-
try over. These quantities by them
selves seem small, but as averages they
are large. They are SO large that 1t
is probable that an observant traveller,
going directly into California from the
east, could with his own eyes notice
that the Pacific coast children are
bigger than those in the rest of the
country.
American Bred Are Largest
California's showing is the more re-
markable because of the large percent
age of Italians among the school chill
dren weighed and measured there. The
Italians, these statistics demonstrate.
are below the general stature and
weight averages. Children of Scandl-
navian parents in the United States are
considerably, and those of German
p%arentage somewhat above the national
averages in weight and height; yet the
percentage of children of these stall
wart nationalities is exceedingly low in
California. But with no racial reasons
for large stature in Californian the
contrary, with an adequate racial rea-
son to account for stature lower than
average, the California children never
theless proved to be as much bigger
and heavier than the American aver
age as are the children of pure Scandi-
} navian blood.
1t is evident, therefore, that, so far
as the children are concerned, Cali
fornia is breeding a race of people as
I 1nr~n ne H. C-.LA- N--oz --l
Danes. The scientists do not attempt
to account absolutely for this fact.
They suggest favorable climate as a
possible cause. They also suggest an
other reaso which may commend itself
even more strongly to the biologist
namely, the principle Of selection in the
parents. The human stock of Califor-
MIA is a pioneer stock. The pioneer
is a person of superior courage and in
~itiative. 1t is reasonable to connect
courage and initiative with rugged
health and health with superior phys
! ique. Thus the parent stock of Califor-
nit may be regarded as physically
select.
Iowa furnished an interesting study
/ for the scientists In that the percentage
of native parents in that state was
, higher than In any district studied
| Less than 20 per cent of the children
examined had %foreign-born parents
In New York city it was just the re-
verse, less than % per. cent of the
children examined having native par
ents. The Iowa children were slightly
! above the national average in height
Z and slightly below it in weight. New
York children averaged more than hall
an inch shorter than average Ameri.
] can children of the same ages. The
Naur VArE HhtldpnV urnrn watched "
their Undertaking, and so the scien.
I fists have made nc attempt to compare
9 their weights with those Of other chill.
dren. On the average, New York chill
dren are nearly an inch shorter thar
9 those of California.
Children Thrive In the Country
Whatever satisfaction the cities o.
= America may take in their low death
rates as compared with the rural dealt
rate, it is shown by this study tina
the country is more favorable than thu
r city to the growth Of q child. Rura
4 children measured in 1918 average
~one-quarter of an inch taller and nearl,
~one-quarter of a pound heavier thar
0 city children.
! Colored children averaged shorter ant
= lighter than white children. The weigh
and stature deficiencies in colored chill
4 dren, however, occurred only In tn
younger ages. From age -four on, col
ored children proved to be. if anything
a little taller and heavier than whit
ones. The reason for this may be tina
= the high child mortality among negroes
c kills off the stunted and starved vic
+. tins of poor nutrition and leaves a
age -four and onward only the vigorous
y survivors, who compare favorably viii
s white children in stature. Or it ma,
be a negro racial characteristic to grow
slowly the first three years of life an
then to gain weight and height at al
i, accelerated rate as compared witt
growth of whites.
: The less serious physical defects t.
which children are subject-adenoids
enlarged or diseased ~tonsils, or ba,