Evening star., 1922-01-15
make THE CHILD FIT.
. FOR SCHOOL |SA|M
Health Campaign inaugural
ed by Welfare Society Will
Continue Six Weeks.
STUDY OF MALNUTRlTION
Cooperation of Parents in the
Movement Regarded Factor Of
Prime Importance.

Make the child fit for school" is
the slogan adopted for a six-week
health campaign initiated by the
Child Welfare Society and planned
for the benefit of all District children
OF pre-school age-namely, from two
10 six years old This special CAM
dorsement of Dr. William c. Fowler,
: District health officer, and public
health officials generally is beginning
today and will last until February 25.
The principal object is to deter
mine. by the record of height and
weight of as many children as pos
ssble, the presence or absence of mall
nutrition. Malnutrition Is almost al
ways the result of conditions opera
tive in the pre-school period-which
Is. therefore. the golden period for
preventive measures. There is u.s.
ually a physical basis for malnutri-
tion. physicians and officials Of the
Child Welfare Society point out and
1t is incumbent on parents and guard
ians to take stock" of their most
valuable poSSessions-their children
and assure them a proper start in
life.
Parents Cooperation Urged.
A factor of prime Importance in
this campaign is the full co-opera-
hopes may prove to be 100 per cent.
Let parents make it their business
to improve the efficiency of their chill
dren during school life by attention
to their physical needs in the pre-
school period" is the plea made by
DR.. Harry S. Bernton. director OF the
Child Welfare Society. whose stan OF
nurses is prepared to weigh and meas
ure the youngsters every week day
from IL o'clock until noon at the fol-
lowing centers: Center !. Georgetown
Hospital: center 2, 21oo street
pital; center 4. $50 c street north
west; center 5. 1926 Az street south
west; center 6. 800 Maryland avenue
northeast: center I. 1880 X street
southeast; center 8, 80 X street north
east; center 9, Freedman's Hospital,
and center 10. Hamline Church, l5oo
9Th street northwest "wednesday art
ernoon only).
Methods Are Outlined.
Children found to be undernour-
ished will, when possible, be referred
! to the family physician for further
examination, while INDECENT cases
will receive attention at the chill
dren's conferences conducted at the
various health centers and will be
recommended to appropriate public
agencies for corrective treatment.
Startling evidence of the prevalence
of malnutrition among school chill
dren of the District is contained in
| the report of DR.. Joseph A. Murphy.
chief medical and sanitary inspector
| for schools, for the year 19l9-l920.
His report gave these surprising fig
| ures: OF 1913 pupils examined in
| fourteen selected schools. only rs per
| cent were OF exact normal weight:
| nearly 6S per cent were more or less
below normal: 29.5 per cent were
actually 10 per cent or more below
| normal. while "A per cent were more
| than 10 per cent overweight. Nearly
J 67 per cent out of 329 children ex-
| amined in the kindergarten grade
were underweight. The average
number Of pounds underweight was
| nearly seven pounds. The proportion
| of seven pounds to the average weight
! Of a school child gives food for care
| full thought.
! There is usually a physical basis for
| malnutrition, members of the medical
and nursing staffs of the Child Wei
fare Society point out. The fact that
a child appears to be well does
not preclude either the possibility OF
malnutrition nor the presence OF
physical defects. The fact that a
child appears normal in weight does
not always mean that he or she
actually is normal. Only weighing
and measuring and subsequent com
parison with an accepted standard