Childhood is the first stage of human life, when it is divided into different ages and when it takes its natural course. Thus, what is called childhood is the time that elapses between birth and the age of reason, when man reaches the age of seven or eight years old. See Child, Age.

The happiness that one may enjoy in this world amounts to having the proper mindset and a body in good shape: mens sana in corpore sano (sound mind, sound body), said Juvenal, Satire X . [1] Since these two assets form the basis for all others to feel complete and satisfied, it is important for the sake of humanity to seek the proper means to preserve and improve them as much as possible, and to restore them when lost.

Many rules concerning children’s education focus on the mind, while just a few apply to the care one should take of a child’s body. Although the mind represents the most significant part of man and we should see to it that it functions properly, we should not neglect the body because of their tight connection. It is the condition of the body’s organs that has the most effect on whether man is virtuous or vicious, spiritual or stupid.

Therefore, it is the responsibility of medicine to direct those in charge of raising children to ensure that everything be done to contribute to the conservation and to the perfection of their health, and to give them the sturdiest constitution. It is in this period of life, when tissues are at their most delicate, when organs are at their most tender, that the physical constitution is most likely to undergo positive and negative changes that are the consequences of the good or bad effect of all things necessary in life and that inevitably leave their imprint. It is therefore very important to take advantage of this disposition early on to improve or strengthen the temperament of children, depending on whether they are naturally strong or weak.

Nearly all who have written on this subject agree to propose a method to achieve this end. It boils down to a few very easy rules to follow: namely, to feed children only the most common meats; to forbid them to drink wine and all strong spirits; to give them no or few medicines; to allow them to spend time in the open air; to let them expose themselves to the sun, and to bad weather; not to cover their heads; to get their feet accustomed to cold or damp weather; to get them to exercise; to let them sleep well, all of this early on in life. At the same time, children should get used to rising early; to not wear anything too warm or too tight; to go to the bathroom regularly; to not exert their brain all at once, but to exercise it moderately and progressively more and more. By complying with these rules until they become habits, there is almost nothing that the body cannot endure, and there is almost no kind of life to which it could not become accustomed. This is what we find more fully set out in the article on Hygiene, where the reasons that are the basis of this practice are explained. See also the work of Locke on the education of children, translated from English by Mr. Coste. [2]

Notes

1. Juvenal., F. P. Leverett, and Persius, Decimi Junii Juvenalis et Auli Persii Flacci Satirae Expurgatae, Notis Illustratae, Works (Bostoniae: Wilkins, Carter, 1845), bk. 4, v. 332, p. 60, http://hdl.handle.net/2027/nnc1.cu55132480.

2. John Locke and Pierre Coste, De L’education des enfans , 1 p. L., [4], 3-24, 468, [8] p., 1 L. (Amsterdam.: Suivant la copie imprimée, 1730), http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030733763.