The Washington times., 1933-08-17
Secrets OF
Health
BY LOUIS E. BISCH, MD, Ph.D.
The Great Outdoors for Nerv.
Gus Children

by LOUAS 4. DASOE1s M'O', EH'Ds
The Great Outdoors for Nerv.
Gus Children
Copyright, 1888 King Features
Syndicate, Inc.)
Summer time is an excellent
time for treating nervous chill
dren.
I am not implying, to be
sure, that such children should
be neglected during the re-
naming months. The oppor.
tunities which summer offers,
however, are specially adapted
for strengthening unstable and
highly-strung youngsters.
A former professor of mine
in the medical school once
made the remark that all nerv-
Gus young girls should be sent
out to grass" What he meant
was that the great outdoors,
with its freedom, fresh air
and comparative lack of re-
Straints and irritants is highly
conducive to building up sensi-
tive nerve cells.
True. And this applies with
even greater force to children,
Nervous children invariably
are children different from the
average and such differences
indicate a mental and emo
tional makeup that eventually
may prove either a handicap
or an asset, depending entirely
on how intelligently the differ
ences are handled.
The majority of our greatest
men and women, past and
present, were different" as
children and from the modern
psychological point of view
they were nervous.
Neurotic probably would be a
better term to describe them.
Often they were hard to raise,
often they were moody and
shut-in, often they did poorly
at school. AS a rule they
wanted their own way; they
said and did things that were
unusual, and all in all they did
not fit in with the generally
accepted standards of the way
average, normal children think,
feel and act.
Seeing life from an original
angle, however, they accom-
plished something. That is, a
few of them did; the ones we
hear about and revere. On the
other hand, scores and scores
OF embryo geniuses have, fig
uratively speaking, fallen by the
waySide because neither their
parents nor their teachers un-
derstood them.
do not wish to intimate that
all neurotic hildren are
geniuses in the making. The
chances of such one achieving
signally are greater, however,
than the average child.
If you happen to have a ner-
vous child. therefore, throw the
tonicS in the sink and get him
into the sunshine. It usually
matters little whether it be the
SeaShore, the mountains or the
woods.
The point is to let him romp
and run, swim, climb trees and
whatnot, from early morning
until it is time for bed. Insom.
MIA, night cries, sleep starts,
disturbing dreams and all the
rest that go with a nervous
child will then soon become a
thing of the past.
What the child with taut
nerves must do is exercise the
large muscle groups and shout
and laugh to his hearts con-
tent. If possible, also, let him
build something, a boat, a cart,
a playhouse - anything. So
long as his interests take him
away from moroseness and self
absorption the nature of the
activity does not matter.
Regularity of meals is like
wise essential and overeating
should be guarded against. A
boy or girl in the country
usually requires more food than
than in the city. On, the other
hand, "stuffing" places too
great a task upon the system.
incidentally it may be men,
toned that the vogue of send
ing children to well-regulated
summer camps is excellent. It
gets them away from their
parents, too, and this often is
blessing, for a short time,
for both