Proper Nutrition 155 



not well nourished. These figures, however, 

 are only averages, and do not apply to excep- 

 tional cases. Still they will prove valuable in 

 leading to a careful study of all the life condi- 

 tions of a child showing such irregularity. It 

 is especially when growth is very active that 

 under feeding or wrong feeding is most disas- 

 trous. Adolescence is the time that especially 

 requires a most liberal diet. Quick growth and 

 marked muscular and glandular activity call 

 for abundant food. Sometimes children who 

 are properly fed but who are over-active in 

 study or play become under-nourished. Dr. 

 Emerson stresses the importance of rest periods 

 for under-weight children in addition to regula- 

 tion of diet. This was well exemplified in a 

 class of under-nourished children under my ob- 

 servation in one of the public schools of New 

 York. An abundant dinner was furnished these 

 children, of which all partook. A number, how- 

 ever, failed to gain. When a rest period of an 

 hour after dinner was added to the regime, these 

 same children gained also. General hygienic 

 oversight is therefore required in dealing with 



