|
|
Health Activities Was Announced: John W. Gardner left the office of secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare on March 1, 1968, and was succeeded by Wilbur Cohen. On March 31, 1968, a considerable reorganization of the department's health activities was announced. The basis of the reorganization was the country's rapidly changing needs in medical education and research, in the delivery of health services, and in coping with disease and environmental problems.
Hillman (1993) analysed these trends in terms of 'independent mobility', that is, children's freedom to take part in outdoor activities, and found that there had been a decline with time. His survey of 7-11 year olds found a significant reduction in independent mobility between 1971 and 1990. For example, only one quarter of that group were allowed to use their cycles on the road in 1990, compared with that physical activities are important for health and fitness, but this does not necessarily lead them to take part in such activities; infants and even older children seem to have an innate sense of immortality, and long-term health benefits lack immediate appeal.
In 1968 the Public Health Service was reorganized into three separate health agencies: the Health Services and Mental Health Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Consumer Protection and Environmental Health -Service, including the Food and Drug Administration, one of the agencies originally transferred into the Federal Security Agency in 1939. These three health agencies are directed by the assistant secretary for health and scientific affairs, who is aided by the surgeon general of the Public Health Service. |
|
|
|
|
