Home Economics Series Volume 1-5 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1919 edition. Excerpt: ...Nation. Therefore, it is important that adequate training be given to those who are responsible for the bearing and rearing of children. There were 1,353,792 children born alive in the birth registration area. of-the United States in 1917, and 126,950 deaths of infants under 1 year of age. As this area comprises only a little over one-half of the total population of the country, the total number of births and of infant deaths in 1917 was probably nearly double the number in the registration area. The two greatest causes of infant mortality are ignorance and poverty. Poverty as a cause of infant deaths will he considered in this discussion only as its mitigation is affected by the training of mothers. The training of mothers is needed to conserve the child because: (a) Ignorance on the part of the mother of proper prenatal and natal care is one of the chief causes of infant deaths. Fortyone and one-tenth per cent of the infant deaths occurring during the first year of life are associated with prenatal or natal causes.1 (Z2) Ignorance on the part of the mother of correct foods and feeding habits for the infant is a second great cause of infant deaths. Of all infant deaths, 23.9 per cent are caused by gastric and intestinal diseases, which can very generally be traced directly to the ignorance of the mothers of the fundamental principles of right feeding. (c) Ignorance on the part of the mother and child of the principles of nutrition accounts largely for the undernourished school child. The Children's Bureau has recently published the statement that from three to six millions of American children are not getting enough to eat. It is estimated that 15 to 25 per cent of our school children are undernourished. Inadequate or unsuitable...