Death in 19th century?

Question: Death in 19th century!?

why did children not live long in the 19th centry!?!!!!!!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Children died for many reasons but the main ones were:-

Lack of sanitation - a lot of poorer families had no access to the toilets and running water that we have now!. Water was drawn from pumps and wells that drew water from polluted sources like rivers!. They didn't treat the water so any nasty bacteria from feces etc could get into their drinking water!. They often had no access to toilets and so would collect their urine and feces in buckets and when full, throw them out into the street!. It was therefore easy to pick up nasty diseases which could kill you!.

Lack of health care - The National Health Service wasn't set up in the UK until 1946!. Until that time you had to pay for medical care or rely on charitable hospitals!. These were few and far between so many poorer families would not have access to the basic health care we take for granted!.

Poor diet - Poorer families would have had limited resources to buy food!. With no reliable contraceptive measures families were often large meaning many mouths to feed!. Poor diet makes you more susceptible to disease and when food was really scarce it could lead to starvation!.

Working - children in poorer families would be expected to work from an early age to support the family!. They would often be employed in dangerous jobs which could lead to accidents!. One job in particular that was dangerous was going under the looms at the mills to collect all the stray bits of cotton, whilst the machinery was still working!

Medicine - There weren't the medicines available that there are today!. Penicillin, which is commonly used today to treat a whole range of illnesses, wasn't discovered until 1928!. People also didn't understand the ways in which disease were spread as well as they do today!. The link between Cholera and infected drinking water wasn't made until 1854 when John Snow began to research cholera outbreaks in London!. So plenty of people, children included, died from a lack of understanding and modern medicine!. Children were particularly at risk as their immune systems had not fully developed!.

I can't remember anything else from what I've read and studied at school!. Hope this helps!Www@QuestionHome@Com

There were a lot of infectious diseases in the 19th century for which there were on reliable cures, and for which immunisations had not yet been developed!. Diptheria, tetanus, polio, and of course tuberculosis, which was a great scourge of young people!. Of course, a lot of children managed to survive childhood without succumbing to any of these things, but diseases like diptheria and polio and TB were still causing many deaths among young people well into the 20th century!.Www@QuestionHome@Com