Children's Health Issues in Historical Perspective.

K.V. Nagarajan is a professor in the Department of Economics at
Laurentian University.

The diverse essays in this edited volume explores the emergence of child health care policy issues over the late 19th and 20th centuries in various Canadian and international settings. It makes for fascinating reading. Eschewing a chronicling approach, the authors bring out the contradictions and hidden motivations of the players involved in child development and care.

The book begins with the American reaction to the shocking discovery that a third of the World War I recruits were unfit for military service due to physical defects that could have been prevented. Ignoring poverty and inequality as possible contributing causes, the focus turned on educating people about health. A propaganda campaign was launched with stripped down science and parades featuring children wearing tomato and carrot costumes. Physicians got involved to promote their career prospects. Politicians wanted to promote child health as a way to build a strong nation.

Other authors capture the distant echo of this movement in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In all three countries, the focus turned on the health practices of indigenous and native peoples and how the settlers perceived their own status under threat from them. Many of the ensuing conflicts involving race class and gender are well portrayed.

Part of the story of child health is the process of medicalization and emergence of pediatrics as a specialty. From being in charge of their children, mothers were reduced to consumers of medical advice on every aspect of motherhood. The beat goes on. As one author points out, medicalization of adolescence is underway now which may lead to the recognition of adolescent medicine as a specialty.

Despite the somewhat cynical tone of some of the essays, the book is well documented and carries an extensive bibliography on the history of children’s health.