Evening star., 1941-04-30
Guard Baby
Against
RiCkets
Consult Physician
About Sun Baths,
Cod.Liver Oil
By Leffice Lee Street,


Somebody's young lady daughter,
aged about months, is enjoying a
sun bath. Round and pink, with
merry eyes and fat cheeks full of
laughter, she rolls around on the
coverlet. If you sit near her you
may detect just faint whif of cod
liver oil
Well, after all, it is just before
her bath time, and even though she
is a lady of leisure you cannot ex-
pect her to be prettied and powdered
all the time, can you?
This gay and fishy little miss has
wise mother. Do you know why?
The answer is that she is being pro-
tected against many possible ills by
three thingS-her mothers common
sense, the suns rays and cod-liver
oil Among the ills this lucky little
lady will probably never have is
ricketts,.
Rickets attacks children generally
between the ages of to 20 months
It has been noticed in the world for
long time and used to be thought
infectious, which it is not. 1t is a
deficiency disease due to a lack of
vitamin D. Closely associated with
vitamin D is vitamin A. These two
fat, soluable vitamins are found in
whole milk, cream, butter and so on
and most generously in the liverS OF
the cod and halibut.
RicketS cause changes in the bones
due to disturbances in the propor-
ton of calcium and PHOSPHORUS in
the blood, which deprives the bones
of their required quota of these two
essentials to their proper growth.
Unless cured. deformitieS of the
head, chest and limbs occur, such
as bowed legs or ''rachitic rosary"
The latter is malformation of the
breastbone that causes the chest to
sink in or to protrude, and small
Jumps form along where the ribs
are inserted into the breastbone.
Many adults with malformed limbs
suffered from rickets as children,
and the pitiful thing about these
victims is that their deformities
could so easily have been prevented,
and, in most cases, cured. Further
results of ricketts, are retarded walk
ing, poor teeth and lowered muscle
tone.
Many years ago when doctors first
started observing the disease they
noticed that it appeared oftener in
the spring than at any other season.
This indicated that it might be
caused by food change; that winter
foods lacked necessary elements
found in summer goods. Then they
discovered that when children were
exposed to the sun they we're cured,
or did not develop rickets, even
though their diets were insufficient.
This proved that the suns rays pro-
vided an element vital to the control
of ricketS.
AS the study of the disease pro-
gressed it was learned with great
interest that rickets is virtually I'M
known in f1sh-consuming countries,
such as Norway, even though SUM-
shine is Scanty in these cold climes
for many months of the year. The
results of the observations proved
positively that the vitamins found in
the sun and in certain fats direct
the proper development of the bony
structure of the body.
To prevent and cure ricketts, feed
your infant the diet ordered by your
doctor, let him have carefully timed
sun baths and give him cod-liver oil
in the winter. Ask your doctor
when to start and stop giving cod
liver oil.
Have you questions to ask con-
corning the care of your baby?
We suggest that you send for a
copy of Infant Care" Children's
Bureau Publication No. 8, United
States Department of Labor, to
aid you in raising a healthy,
happy youngster. Send 10 cents
with your order to The Evening
Star Information Bureau today.