The hygienic crusade undertaken at the beginning of the XXth Century also involved the children. In fact, it took them as its major target. Scientists were lavish when it came to strategies that would turn these destitute into future toiling citizens. By the end of the XXth Century, other scientists launched a new crusade: eradicating children's labor. The present paper reflects on children labor in the light of hygiene rules of the beginning of that century.
Education and labor history; Children labor; Hygiene; Childhood