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Show EASY TO FOLLOW PRACTICES THAT LEAD TO HEALTH By mary q. Mccormick Supervisor of Health Teaching, New York State Department ot Education. Healthy homes produce healthy children not so much because of heredity as because there the practices prac-tices which lead to health, such as proper eating, plenty of rest, tran quility and cleanliness become a part of the child's habits automatically. automati-cally. For the same reason, unhealthy homes tend to produce children with health defects. The child of such a home does not have an opportunity to learn good health habits. He Imitates Im-itates the bad health habits of his parents. Briefly, the fundamental rules for .'ood health, both for adults and children, chil-dren, are : Eat properly, plenty of milk, vege tables, fruits, bread ajid other simple sim-ple foods. Kegtilar exercise but not tua much in the open air and sunlight. Children should have 9 to 12 hours' sleep at night, according to age, with an afternoon nap also, if possible Keep clean. These rules are so simple and are based so much on ordinary common sense that It is surprising that they are so little understood by grown tips. Yet It Is a fnct that relativel.v few adults do understand them or practice them. Schools must teach thesfl rules to children, for heal'h teaching In a fundamental part of the educational process but parents must also assume the responsibility of teaching them and what is more of practicing tliein. Children learn by Imitating, an.l practices learned In the home will often endure for a lifetime, while those learned In school and not fol lowed at home will have relatively little effect. |
