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3
There are two distinct types of children commonly described
as "delicate" — first, the children of large families of poor
parents; these victims of poverty are underfed and overcrowded,
and when they get such conditions as measles, whooping cough,
etc., they tend to develop complications like broncho-pneumonia,
from which they make imperfect recovery. The numbers of this
type are diminishing in every part of the country, and, as our
nutrition statistics show, they practically do not exist as a
problem in this Borough. It is obvious to any person that the
good food and rest in healthy surroundings which are provided
at special schools for delicate children may transform this type
of child into a strong, healthy boy or girl. The same result may
be obtained if the poverty at home can be remedied and the
parents educated in the needs of growing children in regard to
rest and food.
The second type of child to which the label " delicate
becomes attached presents a striking contrast to the poor child
just described. His parents may be, comparatively, " in easy
street." If he is not an only child, he has, at the most, one
brother or sister, separated from him by five years or more.
Often the story is that " he has been delicate from birth." This
early discovery was, possibly, made by the child's grandmother.
He has been under the doctor—or attending the out-patients'
department of a children's hospital — for one complaint after
another ever since. He is well clothed, of immaculate cleanliness,
and when stripped for examination he is found to be thin,
soft, round-shouldered and of poor, undeveloped physique. He
is very quiet while mother takes off his clothes and puts them
on again (without his help), and he takes his medical examination
without evincing the slightest emotion or interest in the proceedings.
Clearly he has been through the same process so many
thousands of times that he is bored! This second type of
"delicate" child is on the increase in recent years. When
further inquiry is made as to his health, mother often answers
It's his nerves."
In offering advice to the parents of such children I believe
the first essential step is to persuade them to abandon the terms
nerves" and "delicate." There is nothing more calculated
to interfere with the proper physical, moral and mental development
of a child than to be brought up on "delicate" lines.