The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Maij, 1927 The Health Bulletin 15
not be burdened with too great care
and responsibility for looking after the
rery young children. Everybody has
laughed, and many have shed tears
and breathed numerous sighs, on looking
at the cartoon which appears in
some of the papers daily, in which the
older boy of the family, about ten, is
burdened with the care of his five-year
old brother and the baby usually
mounted in the carriage. The creator
of this cartoon is evidently of the elect.
He has visioned the tragedy of many
children.
In that excellent publication of the
Federal Children's Bureau known as
"Infant Care" there is an excellent
paragraph entitled '"Children as Caretakers."
This description is so accurate
in our opinion that we herewith
publish it in full.
"CHILDREX AS CARETAKERS"
In many families the older children
are the caretakers of the baby, and in
many cities the girls in the grade
schools are taught how to take good
care of the bal>y. Girls thus taught
are, of course, of very great help to
a busy mother. But there is danger
that the time for play and pleasures
which they need in their own healthy
growth may be thus used. Mothers
should remember that young boys and
girls absolutely need a certain amount
of free play, preferably out of doors,
unless they are to be stunted and
weakened, and should see that they are
not imposed .upon by the too constant
care of a baby. They should also remember
that a fat baby is a heavy
load for anyone to cai'ry, and that the
slender frame and tender bones and
muscles of a young girl may be easily
bent and injured by lifting and carrying
a baby. On the other hand, older
sisters and brothers may very well
learn to look after the baby some part
of every day or to take him out in his
carriage while the mother has a chance
to rest or to go out. When necessary,
written directions, for particular care
should be left by the mother, but the
general rules regarding the baby's food,
sleep, and airings should be the common
knowledge of the whole family."
SWIMMING POOLS AND SANITATION
This is the season of the year when
swimming pools are being opened in
almost every one of the large towns
and cities of the State. These places
are becoming more and more popular
as places of recreation, and hence with
the increasing population and ease of
travel from one place to another it is
more important than ever that correct
principles of sanitation be applied in
the conduct of each one of them. Under
the above heading the New York State
Department of Health, in a recent
Radio Health Talk through its Health
News Service, issued the following
statement, which is just as applicable
to North Carolina as it is to New York
State: .
"No one with a cough, cold,
infected
eyes, ears or skin or any other infectious
disease should use a public swimming
pool, is the advice of Mr. Arthur
S. Bedell of the Division of Sanitation
of the State Department of Health.
This statement was made in a health
WGY.
talk broadcast Friday night from Station
" 'Like the little red school house on
the hill,' said Mr. Bedell, the old swimmin'
hole is rapidly becoming a joy
of the past. The modern drift from the
country to the city, the automobile, the
depletion of many of our smaller
streams and the increasing pollution
of the waters adjacent to our larger
communities have all had a part in
creating a need for artificial swimming
pools. The ever increasing number
of these pools and the heavy
patronage by the public have developed
a public-health problem that should be
given due consideration by local public
health authorities.
" 'As a means for providing healthful
recreation for large numbers of people,
the swimming pool is taking first rank
in civic life for swimming is one of
the most healthful exercises. The coordination
of all the muscular activities
of the body with deep breathing