ALCOHOLISM AND CHILDHOOD

G. BASIL PRICE
1910 Addiction  
IT is a mere truism to state that " a nation's greatest asset is to be found in the well-being of its rising generation." When the environment of our child life is considered, it is by no means easy to isolate and impeach one factor as the only or chief cause for the lack of physical, mental, and moral vigour. There are, indeed, many influences at work which separately and in combination make for impediment and impairment of our coming citizens. Widespread ignorance prevails in all ranks of
more » ... ety regarding matters relating to health ; especially disastrous is the want of knowledge on the part of women and mothers regarding the hygiene of child life. Improper feeding is largely responsible for a vast amount of sickness and suffering amongst the young. Factory life by day and club life or the pursuit of unregulated dissipation by night ill prepares a girl for assuming the responsibilities of a wife and a mother. With little or no knowledge as to the relative value of foods, nor of methods for preparing the same, and unconscious that her own health and habits must profoundly affect the yet unborn child, many a woman learns only by the experience of rearing and often burying her offspring, facts which vitally affect her happiness, the welfare of her child, and the efficiency of the nation.
doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.1910.tb04733.x fatcat:ng2jxxlk2veepnvzfhgboszctu