Ideal Bodily Functioning

"Another possible consequence of too much talk about health, diet, hygiene, germs, and regular elimination is that the child may become too preoccupied with the subject of disease symptoms. The emotional effect may be an almost morbid anxiety about every trivial departure from parental standards of ideal bodily functioning. The clinical thermometer and the enema bag may be put to work at the slightest provocation." (p. 258)

Klein, David Ballin. Mental Hygiene; The Psychology of Personal Adjustment. New York: H. Holt and Company, 1944.