The physician's view of health examinations

Abstract

H ISTORY will recognize the present decade as a period of awakened consciousness to the social obligations of the community. The progress that is being made in this field offers promise that the oncoming generation may enjoy a more abundant life than its predecessors have known. The principles of child guidance and protection are recognized as of paramount importance in the bettering of social conditions. Along with plans for universal education, directed recreation, elimination of child labor, and correction of malnutrition, attention is being directed to the prevention or the early recognition of disease. Such programs should be most effective ~n the reduction of physical incapacity and associated social pathology. Certainly no social program can be complete unless i t includes adequate attention to health measures and recognizes the close relationship between the general efficiency of the individual and his optimum state of health. It is easy to enlist supporters for campaigns for child betterment. The unanimous opinion of humanitarians is that all available means should be directed toward the improvement of conditions which the children of the nation faust face in preparing themselves for adult life. The enthusiasm for righting conditions may lead to the adoption of methods which are not ideal for the purpose, lV[isguided enthusiasm may lead programs away from their true objectives and ultimately retard rather than advance their accomplishment. Unless each situation is surveyed as a whole and as an integral part of the complete program, and unless p lans are directed toward the ultimate