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

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26 The Health Bulletin February, 192"!
hand. lll()U^'h wiiirh was lausi- and
whicli was effecr was not clear. Bad
parents tend to select ]u>ov houses, irrespeetive
of ineonie.
An apjiarent la>; was ohserved in the
frrowth of tlie town children hefcu'e the
middle of the second year of life, but
after the asie of 18 months the rate of
irrowth was satisfactory. The cause
of the lag was not determined and renuiins
an imiwrtant point for future
investigation, though the growth after
18 months indicates that deficient diet
was not the cause.
The authors of this report point out
that their study is a piec-e of pioneer
work, being "the first extensive attempt
to estimate the influence of various
envii'onmental conditions on the growth
and nutrition of the slum children."
The general conclusion is that heredity
and the inherited growth impulse play
a large part in determining the growth
of the child and that in spite of what
may be considered injurious environments,
the slum child tends to develop
on the lines of its parent.
They recognize that many of their
findings are inconclusive, but believe
that it has been shown that the remedy
heretofore suggested by sociological and
political theorists, namely, an increase
of income, would not of itself remedy
the existing evils, while on the other
side, the extreme eugenists are equally
at fault.
Almost coincident with the appearance
of this report, is another along
somewhat the same lines, in which the
relation of lowered resistance to malnutrition
has been studied among the
school children of Vancouver. In this
city, a height-weight-age survey of the
pxiblic school children had been made
in 1923 and a similar one in 1925,
to which the most recent classification
by Dr. Wood and Dr. Baldwin was
applied. The general results of this
study have been to show that malnutrition
as observed in 8,000 children exerts
no injurious influence upon the
ill nourished. The proportion of infection
among the well nourished and
the ill nourished is exactly as 1 to 1.
The authors, who investigated the incidence
of six infectioiis diseases in the
school children of Vancouver, ix)int out
that there is considerable variation in
the individual diseases, which leads
them to iK^'lieve that there is no "general
resistance to infection, lowerable
by a general cause such as malnutrition.''
If there were such a thing as
"general resistance" which could be
lowered for one disease it would be
reasonable to suppo.se that it was
lowered for all. Their study showed
that where the resistance was apparently
lowered to scarlet fever, it was
raised to chickenpox. On the other
hand, it has been held that the incidence
of scarlet fever corresponds with
wealth and overn\itrition. and even if
such conclusions are not accepted, they
at least do not indicate that malnutrition
predisposes to infection in this disease.
The authors conclude that their
findings should not be used against the
beliefs that good nutrition is beneficial.
It is too well known that it makes
for efficiency, general well being and
physical capacity, but they hold that
their study shows that malnutrition
has one less untoward responsibility
than is usually attributed to it.
The two pieces of work emphasize the
danger of running to fads : they ixiint
out the danger of accepting dicta, and
show the value of the open mind in
making investigations. American Journal
of Puhlic Health.
REST CURE
Casually glancing at the paper published
at the Sanatorium, we see that
Dr. McCain says that rest is the one
cure for tuberculosis. Raw eggs, climate
and other formerly emphasized matters
are of little moment compared with
rest. That being the case, if rest is as
good a preventive as cure, some folk
should be thoroughly immune to the
dread disease. The Chatham Record.
HOUSE FUY GRAND JURY
A New York grand jury passed reso- {
lutions by a vote of 19 to 4. recommending
modification of the prohibition
laws. A resolution made by an association
of house flies recommending that
folks quit screening their homes would
be about on a par with the one passed
by the New York grand jury. Th*
Mocksi'ille Enterprise.