HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 56, 21 July 1947, Page 3

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

ULTRA-VIOLET LIGHT

(By the Department of Health)

One use of ultra-violet light is to chase away the cough after measles and whooping cough that would otherwise continue through the winter. In England they are using artificial light treatment more and more, especially for children. And also in industry, where workers get little chance to see the sun, ultraviolet light clinics have been established in factories to provide regular treatments. The Navy arranged for submarine crews regular ultraviolet light doses in their , rest periods in harbour.

The action of ultra-violet light on the body is a chemical one, much the same as sunshine. The ergosterol in the skin is worked on, more vitamin D is made, and more lime can be used in the body. The general effect is a tonic one. In New Zealand we get ample sunshine, except through the winter and near winter months. We can use natural sunshine as a tonic through a slowly acquired tanning—through sensible sunbathing. But there are some conditions helped by the application of ultra-violet rays, especially in children.

Enlarged glands in the neck, especially if there is any tuberculous history, are often helped and the general resistance is raised. Pink disease is so worrying a trouble that the use of ultra-violet rays is justifiable; often it is when ultraviolet irradiation is added to the regular treatment. A child in generally poor condition, with little appetite and restless sleep, if there’s no serious cause found, is often helped to eat and sleep better and be less nervous, especially if its wintertime, and the child can’t do ordinary sunbathing. In certain skin diseases ultra-violet rays are a useful ■addition to treatment, for example, in acme, and some other skin troubles. They are also used as part of the treatment in sinus trouble. If your doctor advises ultra-violet rays as part of a treatment, attend the base hospital or other clinic, for, in certain defined conditions, much benefit may result. THE THIN CHILD There is a type of child who worries mother a lot—the youngster that stays thin and “peaky” and doesn’t grow sturdy like other children. There is nothing obviously wrong, a medical checkover shows heart and lungs normal, and mother has to be satisfied with the assurance that he’ll fill out all right as he gets older. But mother wants to be sure she has left nothing undone.

She thinks first of food when a child is thin. If there’s any bad food habit—picking at food, or refusal of certain things—this will have to be firmly mastered. Then there is the question of worms. Has the child got them? Well, find out, for a heavy infestation will keep a child back. Again, is there a regular daily bowel action? Constipation plays up with children, and as they get older it is wise to make sure that good habits begun in baby days are continued.

■ Check over your daily food planning when a child isn’t growing as well as expected. Proteins provide the main building blocks —milk and cheese and meats of all kinds. Also .dried peas, beans and lentils, and oatmeal. Try to get more eggs, till he gets three or four a week at least. Check the milk consumption —at least three, and preferably four, glasses daily. Use dried skim milk for cooking if the milk bill gets too costly, and let the child drink plenty of milk. A daily ration of cod liver oil or substitute is important. It gives the vitamin that slips the mineral building blocks into place in bones and teeth and makes big frames.

A cooped up child will not grow well. Sunshine, exercise, and fresh air at night help to build bonny babies. And so does adequate sleep. Check all these things, and if correct, cease worrying. The bloom will develop.