“孩子是国家的财富”:进步主义时期纽约市婴儿奶站的建设及其影响

“The Child is a National Asset”:The Building of New York City’s Infant Milk Station in the Progressive Era and Its Influence

进步主义时期,美国纽约市的高婴儿死亡率引起当地社会的高度关注,民间率先发起旨在降低婴儿死亡率的运动,建立婴儿奶站便是其中的一个重要举措。奶站起初由私人机构建立,以给婴幼儿供应纯净卫生的牛奶为主业。然而随着人们对于婴儿死亡原因认识的深入,私人奶站的工作方式和实际效用遭到质疑。1911年,纽约市政府的介入打破了奶站事业的发展困境,奶站的组织结构和服务功能均发生重大变化,该机构最终成为全市开展母婴保健服务的中心。改进后的奶站以公私合作运营和推广健康教育为主要特征,而这两点也成为20世纪早期美国母婴保健事业发展的主流趋势。透过奶站的发展历程,我们既能看到进步主义时期的社会理念对公共健康领域的影响,也能从中窥探到儿童健康问题对转型时期美国国家与社会关系的形塑。

During the Progressive Era, the high infant death rate in New York City attracted great attention of public.The private agencies firstly launched a campaign against infant mortality, and one of the important measures was establishing infant milk station. Milk stations were initially established by private agencies to supply pure milk to infants and young children. However, with the deepening of people’s understanding of the causes of infant death, the function and effort of private milk stations were questioned. In 1911, the intervention of the municipal government broke the dilemma of the milk station, and the organizational structure and service function of the milk station changed significantly. The stations finally became the centers of maternal and infant health services in the city. The improved milk station was mainly characterized by public-private cooperation and promotion of health education, which also became the mainstream trend of the maternal and infant health services in the early 20th century. The development process of milk stations not only presented the effects of progressive ideas on the field of public health, but also showed the role of children’s health problem in shaping state-society relations in the United States during the transition period.