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13
"It is indeed regrettable that this is so, more particularly as
a faulty diet is as frequently due to ignorance as to poverty.
"It is now well known that a diet ill-balanced and lacking the
essential vitamins will cause injury to the growing child which may
take years to remedy, if indeed it can ever be fully remedied.
''No matter how earnestly and enthusiastically the school
medical service works on this problem, we cannot hope for complete
success without the intelligent and willing co-operation of
the community as a whole. Knowledge means responsibility, and
this responsibility should be shared by all those coming in contact
with the child, the parents, the teachers and the medical profession
generally.
"Children are easily influenced by suggestion. What children
eat is largely a matter of habit, and no opportunity should be lost
of teaching children good food habits. They should be guarded
against acquiring a taste for highly seasoned food and pickles,
which tends to destroy the appetite for plain and wholesome food.
"If nutritional classes could be conducted in all schools, these
would help to arouse in the child's mind an individual responsibility
towards physical fitness. Good nutrition in early childhood is of
far greater importance than scholastic attainments, and one cannot
expect to find a healthy adult if the foundations of good health
are not carefully laid during the early period of growth."
(b) Uncleanliness.—No children were cleansed under arrangements
by your Committee, nor were any legal proceedings taken.

Cases of chronic uncleanliness are followed up in the home.
(c) Clothing and Footgear.—The table below gives the figures
in regard to clothing and footgear:—