OUR BABIES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 716, 28 October 1914, Page 6

OUR BABIES.

Published under the auspices of the Society for the Health of Women and Children. " It is wiser to put up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." NUTRITION AND GROWTH. The following 'extract from an important treatise on children published some years ago by Dr Kerley, a rioted phjsician and professor of disease of children in New York, should ba of great interest to our readers: The fundamental principles in the life of the young of all animals are growth and development. This statement applies to the young of the lower animals as well as to roan. Nature baa fixed and definite laws in accordance with which this growth and development depends in no small degree upon the way wa follow out Nature's laws. HEREDITY is, of coursh, an important factor, but ENVIRONMENT counts for more. Memo, by "Hygeia": ENVIRONMENT, used in this sense, does not mean merely the "surroundings" of the child, but includes every material and immaterial influence which ia brought to bear on him from the time of his birth, as contrasted with the heredity or inborn tendencies with which hu enters the world. Thus the food ia an Environment, regularity of habits as to feeding, a3 to action of bowels, sleeping, playing, or taking exercise—all these things are, brqadly speaking, conditions of. environment, just aa ir.ueh aa are .climate, fresh air, sunlight, housing, etc. The young cf the lower animals or of man may possess all that can be desired in the way of heredity, hut if the early msnagament of bis life is faulty, an adult is which ia almost certain to fall short of the normal. On the other hand, another, without the benefits oi a good heredity, when given the advantages of faithful scientific care, may produce an adult decidedly superior in all respects to these more fortunate in birth. I have seen this demons'fated time and again, both in the lower animals and in man. From my ; eailrest recollection I have carefully watched the growth and development of animals. By observing earo ns to feeding, housing, ventilation, clesnli I nesß, and exercise. I have seen animals which promised but little at birth develop' into perfect mature specimens of their kind., During the past 20 years I have been inti.mately associated with thousands of infants and growing children in private, in hospital, aid in out-patient work. The possibilities of proper growth under good management when little -was to be expected, judging fromthe.original condition of.the patient, have been impressed upon me peatedly. Memo, by "Hygeia".: Dr Kerley might well say, as an eminent physician said some time ago to a sympr athetic and appreciative audience at a meeting of the British Association: "Environment can knock Heredity into a cocked hat." It is essential for every mothee to realise not only- how much good can be done by a favourable environment, but what infinite and irreparable harm can be done by a bad environment. The dummy, the long tube feeder, unsuitable food, im-. pure ajr, lack of exercise, irregular habits, etc., can all or any of them prevent and bring to-naught the finest heredity for the individual in one generation; what has been built up through the centuries can, in fact, knock the beat born baby in the world into a "cocked hat." THE CHILD A FUTURE CITIZEN. The child is here through no choice of his own. He ia< to have a future. Hia health, vigour, powers of resistance, happiness, and usefulness as a citizen are determined in no small degree by the nature of his car l dur • J ing the first 15 years of bis life. He has a right to demand that such care be given him as will be conducive at least to a sound well-developed body, and this should ba o'.;v first thought and object regarding him. Consider for a moment the number of occupations, other than the army and navy, which require physical fitness before a candidate is accepted Competition is keen nt. the present time, and will be keener in the future. Employers of men and women, whether in the office, the factory, or on the farm, cannot afford to employ the physically we*k. NUTRITION STANDS FIRST. The mGSt imortant factor in the making of men and women ia nutrition § It requires no great power of ieasoning to appreciate tho fact that the child who is feed on suitable food will become a more vigorous, hetterdeveloped adult than one who, beginning with his birth and continuing

throughout the entire psriod of his growth, is given only food possessing indifferent tissue-building qualities. Nest in importance to food, and following in chose succession, are fresh air, cleanliness, cheerful surroundings, and healthful amusement, together with an absence of work of an arduous nature whether in school or at service. That the offspring of man suffers more from nutritional errors due to the lack of suitable care than do tha young of the lower animals is lamentable, but it is a fact nevertheless. The absence of thought and care and of knowledge* relating to children is due -to the fact that the child as such has apparently no intrinsic value in dollars and cents, whereas the young of the lowar animals are no small part of thair owner's material possessions. EVERY DAY A DAY OF GROWTH. Success in the "management of children, nutritionally and otherwise, m°ans daily attention Feeding the child properly one or two months out of the year is of little value. He should be fed properly every day in the year, for under normal conditions every day is a day of growth. Another factor having a deterrent influence upon the development of children is their unfavourable start during the first year. Unfortunately some mothers cannot supply to the infant tha nourishment to which he is entitled, and this brings us to the matter of eubatitute feeding, fraught with its perplexities and uncertainties in the moat com orient hands, and with its dangers and dhasters with the incompetent and inefficient.; It is sufficient to remark here that Nature has provided for the baby a food which contains the nutritional elements, fat, eugar, and protsid, in fairly definite proportions and in paculiar forms. ADAfT THE FOOD TO HUMAN NEEDS. Success in substitute feeding depends upon our ability to supply in suitable forms, arffl the child's ability to assimilate a food containing approximately the quantities of the nutritive elements found in human milk. A"- exact reproduction of mother's milk.by the use of cows' milk or other food is, of course, impossible. We can imitate, however, tha Bufficent accuracy to make it an accaptahle and sufficient food for most children who are deprived of the breast. Memo, by one end of the Dominion to the other mothevs who cannot feed their babies naturally are imitating natue as closelv aspos3ible by using Humanised Milk —in other words thev are doing just what Dc Kerley advises when he says that we should supply "a food containing approximately the qualities of the nutritive elements found in human milk." Modi- [ fied.or merely diluted cows' milk is out of the question. Cows' milk and cane sugar are highly objectionable, while condensed milks and patent food cannot ba too Btrongly condemned.