Ii Family Ill Health

856 PEDIATRICS, May 1965 T HAT children have families, and that the health of children-the obvious concern of pediatricians-depends, in part, upon the universal social institution of the family, needs no defense. Indeed, the skeptic asks, “What is there new about the family that helps me give better care to childnen?” The purpose of this symposium was not so much to describe what was new but as Dr. Kempe, Chairman of the meeting pointed out, to indicate some of the opportunities in practice to make new observations of health and illness in family groups -observations that can only be made in this natural setting. Its purpose was also to illustrate that epidemiology as a method of study can be applied not only to infectious