OCR Text |
Show Effects of Overwork and Underfeeding WE have been hearing much of the deteriorating deterio-rating effects of malnutrition and overwork over-work on the health of peoplo in the war-torn countries of Europe, but here Is a study of the effect of war In relation to child labor the latter lat-ter always a problem. A summary of two German Ger-man reports on this matter appears in tho Monthly Month-ly Labor Review. During the war thousands of children of both sexes were engaged in overtime, over-time, night and Sunday work, combined with underfeeding as the cost of living shot up. As early as 1918 there was agitation in Germany for the repeal of the war emergency law of Aug 4, 1914, under which this amount of child labor was permitted. In the district of Hanover, accoidiug to the summary, "an increase In the frequency of diseases dis-eases due to cold and exposure was observed during the war; the durat;on of these diseases also became longer, and the cases as a rule were more serious than in peace time. The lack of fats In the diet also aggravated this condition in a number of cases. In addition, tho factories, overcrowded with machines and workers, made greater demands on their power of resistance." In Ilildesheim it is stated that the young workers work-ers "frequently had to perform hard physical work beyond their strength. Undoubtedly their health was also affected by the overtimo work, which was especially frequent in the first years of the war. in most cases without authorization. As the war went on overtime decreased, but in the evening and night work there arose new causes of injury to the health of the workers, especially young persons." In Cologne, children under sixteen engaged in night work which, according to tho inspector, "could not be carried cn over an extended period without injury to their health " According to the head of the Lower Bavaria inspection district: dis-trict: "The long duration of the war, the constantly con-stantly detericrating food conditions and the frequent fre-quent overtime, night and Sunday work, affected particularly unfavorably the growing children, numbers of whom were obviously retarded in their physical development" Summarizing, according to the Review, it may In- said "nearly all the factory inspectors agree that the war period had a serious effect on the health .and physical efflcienry of the workers, although it is difficult to express this effect In figures. With the third year of the war their physical efficiency beean to decrease constantly, con-stantly, and exhaustion and the effects of underfeeding under-feeding became more apparent, in spite of factory fac-tory kitchens, arrangements by the employers for supplying food and large increases in wages." Doubtless, remarks the editor of the New York Medical Journal, similar effects were observed in all the warring nations where children had to play a large part in keeping production going at home. |