Children's health and urban ecology in England, 1885-1919 / Jim Harris.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harris, James Jeffrey, author.

Series:

Rochester studies in medical history

Rochester Studies in Medical History

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Children--Health and hygiene--Great Britain--20th century.

Children.

Urban health--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Urban health.

Public health--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Public health.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Other Title:

Path to Open

Place of Publication:

Rochester, N.Y. : University of Rochester Press ; Suffolk, UK : Boydell and Brewer, 2025.

Summary:

"Analyzes public health efforts to reduce infant mortality and improve children's health in three large English cities: Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester. While English public health efforts had reduced the threat of infectious diseases and improved sanitation by the end of the Victorian era, soaring infant mortality rates brought children's health to the forefront of public health concerns. Efforts to understand the causes of infant mortality and improve children's survival required attention to the environments where infant mortality was often highest, i.e., in the cities. Children's Health and Urban Ecology in England, 1885-1919 examines the history of urban public health campaigns in three of the largest English cities, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester. It considers how local environments impacted children's health by creating ecological conditions ripe for the spread of disease, as well as opportunities for improvements and interventions. Between 1885 and 1919, English public health leaders began to establish increasingly localized approaches to public health that included interventions in households and at schools. This work was conducted by new types of public health professionals, including health visitors to new mothers and school medical officers. While these programs emerged from local environmental conditions, two imperial military conflicts (the Second Anglo-Boer War and the First World War) drew national attention to the importance of children's health. In examining the effects of these conflicts as well as the urgent response to local environmental conditions, Children's Health and Urban Ecology highlights how the epicenter of public health shifted from cities to the state by the end of the First World War"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

A Tale of Three Cities : Ecology and Demography

Flies and Feces : Death from Diarrhea

On Matters of Milk and Motherhood : Promoting Public Health in the Private Sphere

Cantlie's Crisis Revisited : From the South African War to 1904

Expanding Children's Health : Schools as Sites of Public Health

New Directions for Children's Health : The First World War and Its Aftermath

The Birth of the Ministry of Health.

Notes:

Title from online title page (viewed on June 10, 2025).

Includes bibliographic references and index.

Other Format:

Print version: Harris, James Jeffrey. Children's health and urban ecology in England, 1885-1919

ISBN:

9781805437307

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.