Vil.

VIII.

uiltinn

The daily behavior of the individual has a very direct and definite in-
fluence on the degree of health possessed by that individual. For pur-
poses of better understanding, workers in the field of hygiene have
analyzed this behavior into the individual actions which they call health
habits. These habits may be either volumtary or autonomic. While many

of the latter are not under our control, we can influence them to a marked
degree.

Nature imposes certain biological necessities for the mere maintenance
of life. They may be described as those imposed by heredity and those
imposed by the requirements of growth, development, and integration of

. body and mind. The human individual has developed a complex set of re-

actions, physical and mental, that have had and are having a determining
effect on his levels of health.

For purposesof description, they may well be considered from the point of
view of their influence upon the body and the mind.

1. Constructive Health Habits

a. Habits of nutrition e. Habits of recreation and play.
b. Habits of excretion f. Habits of exercise

ce. Habits of cleanliness g. Habits of rest

d. Habits of work © h. Habits of social relations

2. Defensive Health Habits

The habits that defend the individual against ill health are truly
safety devices of great values. They may be considered under the
following heads:

a. Defenses against pathogenic genes

b. Defenses against chemical causes of ill heaith
c. Defenses against physical causes of ill health
d. Defenses against mechanical causes of ill health
e. Defenses against living causes of ill health

References: Storey--Principles of Hygiene, Parts 1 and @.
Storey—-Individual Hygiene, Chaps. 11 and 12.

HEALTH STATUS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS

It is of considerable importance for the student interested in attempting
to build for himself a satisfactory individual hygiene program, that he
have a reasonably definite idea of the health status of the studentsin his
own and other educational institutions.

A further basis of comparison may be secured from the study of the results
of physical examinations of school children, men drafted for military ser-
vice and industrial and commercial workers.