PEDIATRICS Vol. 45 No. 5 May 1970, pp. 868-873
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RESEARCH ISSUES IN CHILD HEALTH A HEAD START RESEARCH SEMINAR

III. Some Socio-anthropologic and Organizational Issues

Marsden G. Wagner M.D., M.S.P.H.1

1 Departments of Pediatrics and Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles

This and the two following articles (pages 874 and 884) conclude the Seminar. Papers I and II by Drs. A. Frederick North and Robert J. Haggerty appeared in Pediatrics, 45: 690 and 702, 1970. Reprints for the entire series, to be bound aS one, will be available through Dr. North's office, 2125 Thirteenth Street, N.W., Washington. D.C. 20009.

It has been stated that a health problem, to be of importance, must have a definite impact on the day-to-day functioning of the child. Perhaps this criterion applies equally to any aspect of a program such as Head Start, whose goal is increased health and development of children. Is there research data or can we obtain data to answer questions such as, "What does this program mean to the family?," and "Can a school or Head Start health program be so integrated into the family subculture as to initiate desirable change in family health behavior?" This family health behavior, including nutritional habits, sleeping habits, traditional health remedies, child care arrangements, and so forth, is, of course, infinitely more important to the health of the young child than those rare visits to a physician or clinic which are most likely far removed from his own milieu. The field of medical anthropology provides a number of documented examples of attempts to superimpose an outside system of health care onto groups.1-8 The subsequent failure of most of these attempts has been due to a failure to consider such questions as those just raised concerning Head Start.