Always stay cheerful - health information in the 1920s. / Vær alltid i godt humør ­ helseopplysning i 1920-årene.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The interwar period was a time of comprehensive preventive health programmes in Norway. Physical exercise, nutritious diets, strict sleep regimens and better hygiene were at the centre of these efforts. A massive mobilisation of volunteers and professionals took place. The publication of House Maxims for Mothers and Children was part of this large-scale mobilisation, and consisted of ten posters with pithy health advice for hanging on the wall. Mothers were an important target group for health promotion. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The posters have previously received little attention in medical literature, but they can elucidate some features of life and the health propaganda of their time. We have used databases that provide access to newspapers, books and medical literature Retriever, bokhylla.no, Oria, PubMed and Web of Science. RESULTS: It is hard to quantify the effect of this popular movement when compared to political measures to improve living conditions. In any case, mortality rates fell, life expectancy increased and the dreaded communicable diseases were largely defeated. Special efforts were targeted at children, also with good results. Infant mortality fell and schoolchildren became healthier, stronger, taller and cleaner. INTERPRETATION: The line between social hygiene and general disciplining is blurred, for example the boundary between a healthy diet and bourgeois norms. The education of mothers and children also included a normative aspect that concerned good manners and control.