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Show POINTS ON KEEPING WELL DR. FREDERICK R. GREEN Editor of "HEALTH" H-H-l-r I I 1 1 1 I I 1 I 1 1 1 I I 1-H-H4 (c), 1926. Western Newspaper Union.) WHAT KILLS BABIES? nPHE United States government has compiled and issued many bulleiku on wheat crops, corn crops, hay crops, and potato crops. Now It has gotten around to investigating the most valo. able crop of all, the baby crop. What kills babies? We know, froj, the latest reports of the census bu-reau, bu-reau, that 187,000 bubies less than one year old die every year In this coun try. Over half of this appnlling num. ber, or 9S.0O0, die In the first month. It does no good to know this. it simply shocks us. To be of any valu, we must know what are the causes. It Is of course impossible to collect and tabulate the cause of death o each baby In this enormous total, two and one-hulf times ns many iT(, every year as this country lost in ult World war. But the children's bureau bu-reau of the Department of Labor has just completed a study of 23,0iv babies born In eight American cities This survey may be taken as a basis, since the causes of death among &, large a number may fairly be con. sidered an average for the emm country. From this report some iuterestit; facts can be assumed. The mortality for mnle babies one-fourth higher than for femalt babies. The mortality is highest to the first month of life and steailih decreases each month. For the first month, the rate Is 44.8 ; for the secoo! 9.3; and for the third 4.5. So tli,: longer a baby lives the better clianc-it clianc-it has. . Nearly one-third of the deaths li the first year are due to condition before and immediately after birth such as premature birth, failure o: defects of development' and lack n strength. The time in the year when a bat-is bat-is born has much to do with In chances of living. Babies bcrn I; June have the poorest chance, tho-born tho-born in August the best. Majt there's something, after all, in the o: idea of the astrologers about belt, born under a lucky star. First born children, contrary to tl popular Idea, have a higher mortali: than the second born. The death rate for premature babi-is babi-is over six times as high as for bah: born at the natural time. The death rate among twins t triplets is much higher than for sic: bubies. The highest death rate of all Is 1 babies born within a year of the It-preceding It-preceding baby, while the lorn death rate is for bubies born after period of at least four years. Four times as many bottle-!-babies die as compared with brea-fed brea-fed babies. Man has never prodiu-anything prodiu-anything as good as a healthy mot! for a baby feeder. |