162 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the same direction, shoulder to shoulder, has power to sweep all obsta- 

 cles out of the way. 



It is with the hope that in Michigan at least a more concentraiod 

 action between parents, educators, school boards and taxpayers may be 

 stimulated that the author is endeavoring to bring this subject of school 

 hygiene forward at the present time. 



The limited time which can be given to one topic in a meeting like this, 

 prevents even a superficial consideration of the great subject of school 

 hygiene. I shall, therefore, limit myself to some points only of the out- 

 line printed in the Interchange, and as the personal hygiene of school 

 children must largely be looked after in the home, and provided for by 

 those who construct and furnish school buildings, I shall limit my con- 

 sideration of the subject to some important points under that head. 



The topics under the head of personal hygiene are: 



1. Food. 



2. Exercise. 



3. Rest. 



4. Cleanliness of body and clothing. 



5. Clothing. 



6. Care of the eyes. 



7. Habits of posture. 



8. Bad moral habits. 



9. Diseases and conditions common to school children. 



Under the first head, foods, I shall speak of but two things, (1) the 

 importance of cooking food substances containing starch a longer time 

 than has heretofore been the custom, and (2) the importance of giving 

 to growing children the four foodstuffs — proteid (including meat, eggs, 

 milk and grains), fat, starch and sugar in the proportion demanded by 

 the body. It is uneconomic to eat partially cooked starch, for it is not 

 absorbed, but wasted, and vital energy, which is needed for useful work, 

 is used up in removing it from the body. Our bread should be baked 

 longer and our cereals more carefully cooked than these commonly ha\e 

 been. Children need the elements derived from starch to feed their 

 furnace fires, and they should be able to utilize every grain swallowed. 



Proteid food is the great tissue building material of the body. The 

 flesh of cattle and sheep contains this precious building material in 

 most concentrated and digestible form; eggs and milk next, dried peas 

 and beans, and grains last. The child is growing during his school 

 years, often very rapidly, and he needs these elements out of which to 

 build bone and muscle. Be sure he has them, but not in too large 

 amounts, as the surplus gets out of the body only at a serious cost to 

 its machinery. 



Childhood is the only truly active stage of earthly existence. Awake 

 and asleep the child's mind and body are responding to each other con- 

 tinually, and this involves the expenditure of force and energy. What is 

 the source of supply of this energy so invisibly expended? The three 

 food substances, fats, starches and sugars mainly; proteids also add 

 their share, but it is uneconomic to use them for this purpose. 



How much and in what proportion should children partake of these 

 foods? The quantity depends on many things — the size of the individ- 

 ual, rate of growth, activity of body cells, heredity, etc. This question 

 has to be settled individually. The proportion of food substances re- 



