DARTMOUTH TO STUDY HEALTH OF FRESHMEN
Dartmouth College will inaugurate next fall in connection with the freshman course of compulsory recreational athletics a survey of the health of its students based on the nutrition studies of Dr. William R. P. Emerson of Boston, a graduate of the class of 1892. The results of Dr. Emerson's researches have been widely utilized in public schools, most notably at Grand Rapids, Michigan, and it is the belief of the College that this work can be so arranged that it will also be of vast benefit to men of college age. The principal object of such a study at Dartmouth will be the improvement of the quality of scholarship as well as the physical upbuilding in the student body, which will result from careful advice by the physical education department and the elimination of the evils due to "malnutrition."
According to Dr. Emerson's* studies approximately 30 percent of school children do not enjoy normal health and normal mental efficiency because of the evil effects of unbalanced and unregulated diet. A large measure of dullness, laziness, and general scholastic weakness is traceable to improper nourishment. The system to be put in operation at Dartmouth will attempt to kefep a. careful record of the health and mode of living of every freshman and advise him how best to regulate his habits in order to develop his mental and physical powers to their greatest capacity.
The study starts with a thorough physical examination of every member of the freshman class, in which special attention is given to the relation between weight and height. A careful record of this relationship has been developed to determine the normal weight of students of certain heights, and variations not exceeding 7 percent are considered normal. If the relationship is found to vary more than 7 percent a thorough examination is given to ascertain if possible the physical or organic trouble to which this may be traced. In a large proportion of cases diseased tonsils or the presence of adenoids have been found responsible for great variations. If such an examination reveals no apparent cause for variation from the normal it is assumed that the student is suffering from malnutrition, or improper nourishment, which may be due to a number of minor causes such as lack of sleep, lack or excess of exercise, or unbalanced diet. A carefully planned program for food and rest will be developed for students who appear to be suffering from malnutrition. Such a program would indicate the health values of different foods and might, as in the case of the public schools, recommend half-hour rest periods in the mornings and afternoons, in addition to such light lunches during the day as would prevent overeating at regular meal times. The periods of outdoor recreation and of sleep necessary in such cases will also be advised.
Experience has proved in the public schools where Dr Emerson's system has been established that though it may require a period of from six weeks to six months for a student to regain normal health the improvement is achieved in practically every case.
The success of the system to be installed will be dependent of course upon the willingness of the students to accept the advice and to follow the regulations of the Department of Physical Education. No supervision of the students other than examinations will be exercised for it is not the purpose of such a system to convert the College to a sanitarium. It is expected, however, that such a study of the health of its students will so raise the standards, both physical and mental of Dartmouth that the College may graduate men even more fully equipped to take their parts in the life of the country than those who have been graduated in the past.
