The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1923-03-15

new tangled ideas which.
our grandfathers got along
very we'll without, SO we
wonder sometimes why all
this fuss and fury about it
today.
All too long we have con-
sidered sickness the ruling
of a Divine Providence
within a year | have been
told by a woman whom |
was trying to persuade to
take better care of the baby,
that if it was the Lords will
to take the child she did not
want to do anything to in
terfere, or words to that
effect.
Sickness, rather than being God
given, is undoubtedly man acquired.
Ever since that day in the garden
of Eden when Eve partook of the
Fruith of knowledge, we have taken
on always more artificial ways of
living. We have developed the first
rude shelter which man made TO pro
tect his family from storm into an
alright house, and we have tuDer-
culoSiS. We have removed the bulk
and texture from our food so that
they require no chewing and we
wear false teeth. We have manufac-
tured stoves upon which to cook our
food and have gotten largely away
from eating green things, and we
have indigestion.
We might 90 down the whole
category Of ills and develop the pro-
cess of changed habits from the
normal TO the present and account
for the suffering of today. We are
living far more artificial lives than
did our forefathers.
Great Amount of Sickness
Is PreVentable.
The most optimistic of men cannot
forsee the day when there will be no
sickness: that-we can counter
balance the result of ages of wrong
living in a few years and get back
to normal is out of the question, but
tremendous amount of sickness is
preventable. The slogan of the Pub
lie Health worker is Prevention
and her ideal is Health"
Until very recently we have work
ed backward in Health matters
when the person has become i'll, we
have bent all our energies and spent
all our money to restore hlm TO
health, when, with a bit OF fore
siehtedness, the illness might have
been prevented.
What is the duty of the Public
Health Nurse and her place of con-
tact in this problem?
DIR. Shaw, president of the AM
erican Child Hygiene Association, in
his presidential address at the annual
meeting, gave the following answer:
The Public Health Nurse Carries
the lamp of knOwledge-her work
is done in the front line trenches,
and she often deserves the distin-
guished service medal"
AS was pointed out, the suffering
of today is the result of artificial
methods of living. The duty of the
Nurse is to get into the homes, study
conditions there and teach the family
why the present habits are wrong
and what the proper conditions are.
1t NAV be matter of ventilation,
the food supply, irregular meals, IN
sufficient rest or overwOrk, lack or
sanitation, improper recreation or
any OF the thousand and one details
that daily life is made of.
Today in many places work is
centering in the schools, because
there we have all the future citizens
in attendance under the compulsory
education law and by physical ex-
animation and correction of defects
during the school period, a stronger
adult life will be obtained.
In districts where Public Health
has been developed over long
period of time, the preventive pro-
gram has been taken back TO a still
earlier period OF life, and the little
babies have had attention centered
upon their welfare, and big reduet-
ions have been made in the infant
mortality rate. The ideal method OF
contact in these cases is through
birth registration, in that the Nurse
by conscientious work and contact,
may assure to the baby its natural
food. and by teaching the mother
the details OF infant care, a stronger
child will be developed.
Until very recently, the pre-school
child has been negiected-the years
between two and six are said TO De
the most neglected of a persons life,
and vet as far as the child Is con-
cerned, 1t is during these years that
the habits and ideals of lifetime
are formed. SO Health Teaching. is
now being carefully planned for this
group and in all instances meeting
with good results.
Prenatal work is perhaps the slow
est form Of public health to be de-
veloped because of the peculiar
psychology of the woman during this
period. From time immemorial we
have deemed the foundation the most
necessary part of the structure--the
background tie most essential part
of the picture, for is there flaw
in either, the finished product cannot
be success So 1t is with the In
diyidual-this foundation or back
ground, Is the home.
Could public health education be
begun when the home Is established,
could the health habits of the new
husband and wife be directed, how
much better would be the back