The Pre-School Age 8l 



the New York Board of Health,— '^ The Bu- 

 reau of Child Hygiene has always felt that the 

 best time to take care of the child's health is 

 before he enters school, and that preventive and 

 remedial measures, undertaken at this time, 

 would do much toward the elimination or di- 

 minution of physical defects, and place him in a 

 sound physical condition upon school entrance, 

 to say nothing of the favorable effect upon his 

 growth and development prior to school age. 

 In fact, the Bureau feels that proper super- 

 vision during the pre-school age bears the same 

 relation to school medical inspection that proper 

 pre-natal instruction and supervision bear to 

 infant mortality. Just as any decided reduc- 

 tion in infant mortality must come through the 

 reduction of deaths from congenital diseases and 

 deaths during the first month of life, through 

 a constructive pre-natal programme, so any 

 material reduction in the percentage of physical 

 defects found in school children, and a better- 

 ment of their general well-being must come 

 through the care of the children before their 

 entrance into school.'* 



