ion.~--~Errors in diet~--insufficient or improper
food--are accountable for most of the cases seen in infants and
children. ~Over-exercise~, that is, when the amount of exercise taken
is not commensurate with the intake of food, is accountable for other
cases. This type of emaciation is found especially in growing
children.

~Disease as a Cause.~--Wasting diseases, such as tuberculosis and
anemia, bring about a loss of weight, while in fevers in general and
typhoid fever especially not only the febrile condition hastens the
metabolic processes but also the activities of the bacteria act
together and break down the tissues of the body, causing a falling off
from the normal body weight. Loss of sleep, unhygienic or unsanitary
surroundings, and capricious appetites probably cause some of the
cases of excessive thinness.

~Thinness in Children.~--Parents are to blame for much of the thinness
seen in children, especially the nervous high-strung children whose
energies outweigh their desire for food or, as is more often the case,
their willingness to eat the proper foods. It is a mistaken kindness
to cater to the whims and fancies of a child's appetite, and much harm
is wrought by allowing the "trash" to overbalance the necessary
building or repair food in the dietary. Not that sugar is not
necessary, for it is particularly so at the age when the metabolic
processes are faster than later in life, but it must be remembered
that the body is being built up both in height and breadth.

~The Need for Building Foods.~--The skeleton and the muscular tissues
cannot be constructed from sugar, hence the diet which consists
chiefly of this food constituent is unbalanced and will sooner or
later bring about disturbances which are very apt to result in
emaciation. ~The causes of emaciation~ may be summarized as follows:

(1) Those cases which are due to pathological conditions such as
tuberculosis, anemia, typhoid fever, etc.;

(2) Those induced by errors in diet and bad habits such as
insufficient or improper food, loss of sleep, over-exercise, lack of
ventilation in the sleeping apartment, which destroys the appetite;

(3) Malformation or deformities of mouth, throat, or stomach which
make it impossible for the individual to partake of sufficient food to
cover the needs of the body;

(4) Heredity ("constitutional thinness").

~Regulating the Diet.~--As has been stated in a former chapter, any
persistent loss of weight or failu