Evening star., 1927-04-29
FOWLER APPROVES
CHILD HEALTH DAY
Urges Parents to Have Chill
dren Examined at 0bserv-
anCe Here Tomorrow.

With everything ready for city-wide
observance tomorrow of Child Health
day. DR.. w. c. Fowler, health officer
Of the District. came out today with
his full approval of plans for the Cele-
bration, urging parents to have their
children examined for possible defects
and corrective measures where neces-
Sary.
The opportunity for having children
examined will be more extensive to-
morrow than at any other time dur
ing the year. although the nine child
hygiene stations of the Public Health
Department are open throughout the
year. Thirteen centers will be avail
able from to / o'clock, with physi-
clans and nurses in attendance, and
thousands of children are expected to
be brought in for examination.
On the Ellipse tomorrow afternoon,
from 3 TO o'clock, there will be an
elaborate health demonstration with
the United States Army Band fur
nishing music for Boy Scouts and
Girl Scouts. Ten Army tents pitched
on the Ellipse will contain numerous
exhibits and health demonstrations,
where children will undergo typical
examinations.
Swan Boat to Be Inaugurated.
On the Tidal Basin the Swan Boat
of the Childs Welfare Board of Chill
dren's Hospital will open it's second
season by offering trips about the
pool free of charge throughout the
day. Arrangements have been made
by Col. r. S. Grant, Sd. director of
Public Buildings and Public Parks, to
have a new bus stop for the Capital
Traction Bus Line passing that point
installed at the Tidal Basin boat
house, near the John Paul Jones
Statue, so the public may find easy
access through transportation chan
nels to this spot and the Swan Boat.
DIR. Fowler said he was heartily in
favor of the movement to improve the
welfare of children in the District of
Columbia
'The Health Department" he said,
"has co-operated closely with the Child
Health day. May day committee in
arrangements for the day"
Dr. Hugh j. Davis, director of Nh.
Child Hygiene Service Of the Health
Department, is chairman Of the cofn.
mittee.
Need for Examinations Stressed.
Need for periodic examinations of
children such as will take place at 13
centers tomorrow is shown by results
from the medical examination Of chill
dren during the last term, according
to DR.. Fowler. Medical inspectors of
the Health Department, DR.. Fowler
pointed out, examined >3,571 children
in the kindergartens and first grades
of the schools in the District during
the last term, and found that 92.S per
cent of those examined had some
physical defects of more or less i'm
portance, all of which stood in need
of correction.
Some of the children examined, DR..
Fowler explained, had several defects,
so that the percentages of various de.
fects apparently show too large a
total. For instance, cas- per cent of
the children had trouble with their
teeth, 45.3 had bad tonsils and 23.7
were listed as having poor nutri-
ton"
Other Defects Reported.
In addition to these three principal
kinds Of listed defects, the other per-
centages, DIR. Fowler reported. were:
Nasal obstruction, 1872 per cent; de-
fective vision, 1875 per cent; ortho-
pedic defects, 10.6 per cent; anemia,