HEALTH, THE FOUNDATION

     You who aspire to take a part in the work of the world should assure yourself of good health.  Without it all other preparation may be in vain.  To-day, in addition to the more familiar duties of the home, new occupations in factory and office are open to you.  In many fields you may now compete with men.  But only if you possess good health -- a vigorous body and a clear brain -- can you expect to undertake the new and trying work successfully.  No matter how thoroughly you are trained, such training will be of little value unless it rests upon a foundation of good health.

     Good health is even more important from the point of view of motherhood.  In some of the war-ravaged countries of Europe more than half of the babies who are born die during the first year of life.  Thousands of others begin their lives under tremendous handicaps.  Why?  Largely because the strength of the mothers has been sapped by food shortage and overwork so that they can not give their babies proper nourishment.  The dream of these mothers of chubby, rosy-cheeked babies, who were to have been their joy, has vanished.  Upon healthy womanhood depends to a large extent happy motherhood.

     Physical fitness during youth is the best foundation for health, happy womanhood.  It is an asset of which you may rightly feel proud.  With health, you can look forward to the time when you can participate actively in the work of the world; with health, happy motherhood becomes a well-grounded hope for the future.