THE BONY FRAMEWORK 



39 



61. Hints about the Health of Bones. The bones of 

 children are flexible and capable of being bent by long- 

 continued strain, because they contain more animal matter 

 than in later years. Therefore great 

 care must be taken with the positions 

 which children take at home, at school, 

 and elsewhere. 



Young people should not get into 

 the habit of taking hurtful positions, 

 such as sliding down into the seat, 

 sitting on the foot or on the small of 

 the back. Bending over too much 

 while reading, writing, sewing, prac- 

 ticing on the piano, or doing other 

 work, may cause spinal curvature and 

 round shoulders. 1 



The use of tight and high-heeled 

 boots and shoes cannot be too strongly 

 condemned as both hurtful and ugly. 

 High heels throw the weight of the 

 body forward, and force the foot down 

 onto the toes. This will in time not only crowd the toes 

 out of proper shape, causing tender feet, corns, bunions, 



1 Children who go to school at six or seven years of age are often com- 

 pelled to sit on a badly shaped chair, sometimes with no support for the 

 back. The muscles become tired and the child leans to one side, usually 

 to the right. 



A narrow space between the seat and the desk obliges the child to push 

 between them, so that, in girls particularly, a drag is exerted on one 

 shoulder; or the skirts form an uneven cushion, tilting the spinal column 

 out of the perpendicular. Even in grown men and women, occupations 

 requiring a one-sided muscular action affect the vertebrae, and therefore the 

 shape of the spine. In children the much softer bones are still more readily 

 affected. 



FIG. 32. A Broken 

 Tibia. 



