INFANT MORTALITY IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



By W. E. MusGRAVE 



(From the Department of Medicine, College of Medicine and Surgery, 

 University of the Philippines) 



Infant mortality in Manila is greater than it is in any other 

 city from which we have records. This excessive mortality is 

 not due to a single cause, and it is not due to natural conditions 

 of the country. It is due to a multiplicity of artificial causes 

 that may be classified into: Predisposing causes, prenatal and 

 postnatal, and immediate or active causes. 



A thorough study of the predisposing causes of infant mortal- 

 ity necessitates careful investigation of the mentality, financial 

 responsibility, social and political economy of the people, the 

 sanitary conditions— including character and quality of medical 

 attendance — conditions of childbirth, general hygiene, personal 

 hygiene, habits, vices, and customs of the race. In this connec- 

 tion, also, must be considered the influence of heredity, with 

 particular reference to tuberculosis, syphilis, and other diseases 

 transmitted directly or indirectly through generations — in other 

 words, the eugenic estimate of the race. 



Of the more direct influences bearing upon the prospects of 

 the child after birth, there must be considered the environment, 

 the character and method of feeding, and the influence of disease. 



The committee for the investigation of infant mortality has 

 been proceeding with its work along lines as indicated in the 

 above outline, and a preliminary report of its findings has been 

 submitted to the Philippine Legislature. 



In the study of so complex a subject as is that of infant mortal- 

 ity, one must constantly bear in mind: First, careful attention 

 to all details in order to secure facts, and, secondly, the necessity 

 for constant attention in order to keep cause and eff"ect in their 

 proper relation to the question under discussion. A great many 

 of the mistakes made in reports of students of this subject are in 

 mistaking cause for effect and making recommendations in 

 accordance therewith. 



I shall only discuss, in the briefest possible way, a few of the 

 most important questions involved in this great problem, and 

 only the food situation for adults and children will be considered 

 in this report. 



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