HEALTH & FITNESS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1745, 9 May 1913, Page 6

HEALTH & FITNESS.

LECTURE BY DR TRUBY KING. SPEECHES BY MINISTERS. DR. KING'S WORK EULOGISED. Lecturing at the Sydney Street Schoolroom last evening on tlio subject of "Health and fitness," Dr. Truby King spoke, in a manner that enchained the interest of his hearers, upon a number of questions intimatoly connected withi, tho welfare of tho nation. 'A. great part of the address dealt with tho caro.of infants, but iDr. .King had a good ! deal to say also about the importance of exerciso and wholesome conditions generally in connection with tho life of adults. Tho lecture was illustrated with-a fino series of lantern slides, many of which, Dr. King'mentioned, wcreto bo used as -llitstrations in a book which is to be'issued by the Department of Public Health, for tho instruction and guidance of mothers. Tho Hon. "W. I''. Massey (Prime Ministor) acted as chairman, and the Hon. R. 11. 'Rhodes'.(Minister for Public Health) also attended. In a brief introductory speech, Mr. Massey said, that lie did not propose to detain his hearers l'or. more than ono minute, because ho realised that tiiey had como not to listen to him, but to listen to an interesting and instructive lecture on an important subject. "The title of the lecture," ho continued, "is 'Health and fitness/ anil tho lecturer is Dr. 'l'rubv King, and here I would just . like to say that 1 desiro to bear testimony to the good work that is being done by Dr. Truby King fliul those associated with hiin. ; On the last occasion when I risited Otago .L had au opportunity of seeing't'lio Karitane Home, nnd I want to My that not only are nurses being trained there, not only are mothers being trained there, but lives are being saved there. I was very much struck by ono paragraph in the report of the Otago Plunket So- . ciety. It shows that taking the seven years from 1900 to 1907 the average death-rate among children under one year in Dunedin and suburbs was 8 per cent, for the last five years the average has been 6J- per cent.; for tho,last three years 6 per cent.; for the last two years 5 per cent., and for the last year four per cent. 1 don't know that Dr. King will claim, ' that tho whole of this reduction is due to his efforts and those of the society w'hach lie represents, but if only half of it is "ifue to tho society, what a good work is being done for the Dominion as a whole. The work that is being done by Dr. Iruby King and those associated with him is worthy tho support and assistance of {.■very right-thinking mnn and woman in the Dominion of New Zealand. Dr. Truby King said that tho society with whicli he was associated felt much gratified at the presence that night of the Prime Minister and Mr.. Rhodes. 'The society did not. claim "that it was Fololy responsible for; tlio'reduction in the infantile' death-rate, to which Mr. Massey had referred: He went on to emphasise the fact that it was very much rnoro important to a. community that . Its women should be healthy than that its men should be healthy, instancing in this connection that children were neccstajily more intimately associated in every way with women than with men. , Going, on to deal with the conditions of healthy living, I>r. King; declared that jf children were taught, from an early )ige, to take a cold bathievery morning, followed by twenty minutes of vigorous .exercise, there would bo very littlo illhealth at all.- Most of tho benefits derived by people who went to Rotorua and such places for baths could be 'obtained by people in thoir own homes if they followed' the eimplo practico Which he recommended. Dr. King described in detail tho constituents of the milk of different animals, and clearly explained the necessity, in default or natuial feeding of infants. of rising' a substitute of approximately the sarno tihemical constitution ns human milk. Of patent foods ho spoke with tho utmost contempt, declaring that tho best of thwn consisted of ]Lothing much bettor than baked flour, and that invariably they failed, in several vital respects, to reach the standard of a wholesome infaat food. That such foods should find a sale, Dr. King remarked, showed the. utter fallacy of human judgment, and that people could bo persuaded to buy practically anything. . Mothers should irocognise that, failing natural feeding of infants, the only permissible substitute was humanised milk. ■

N>w Zcalanders, Dr. King remarked, nt another stage of lis address,, ate twice as much m-wt as they should do, «rul so taxed their kidneys by giving tliein double the work that tbey should be called , upon to do in getting rid of tho waste products of , flesh-forming lnaterial. These waste, products from (le.shi-forni'ing 'materials weuo tho. most) constituents produced by the body fa its functioning. Dr. King dealt in detail with the effects of proper and improper feeding and care of infants, and showed a series of highlyinteresting pictures. Some of tho most remarkable were of. children restored to, full health and vigour by proper feeding rind treatment, from a condition of terrible emaciation into which they had fallen, owing to the ignorance of;,their parents in their early "-existence.'. Amongst tho evils arising ','ftom Tinamtural and improper feeding of infants, ■Dr. King mentioned dental decay. This, lie said, was by far tho most formidable »'nemy of the human race, and bv far tho most serious disease which afflicted it. It wag a disgrace to New Zealand that twico as many men should have had to be rejected from the Territorials in this country on account of bad teeth, as were rejected in tho Old Country. Tot thi3 was a disease easily preventiblo. Natural feeding and proper ■ conditions in infancy, followed by tho use of hard foods which would give tho teeth honest work to do, would eradicate tho diseases which wore now rampant. Dr. King contrasted the condition of the teeth in a. Maori skull (that of an. old man) with that of the teeth in a European skull. In tho Maori skull the teeth were perfectly freo From decay,.--but, worn "down, from use,to half /theiroriginal, length. ; In tho European skull tho -teeth -were scarcely worn at all, but were badly decayed. Dr. King, stated that ho did not think that it'would',bo difficult; to'-, reduco ■ tie infant mortality rate iu the Dominion to four per cent., at which it now stood in Dunedin. But a mors important consideration was that for every child that died six were more ;or less seriously injured by the conditions under which they were reared. The main objective must l.e ail enormous enhancement in tho 'health of the 25,000 children born each year who lived. Tho Hon: It. H. Rhodes, in proposing a Vote of thanks and confidence to Dr. Truby Ring, referred to what, he had said about I he evils of "ioug-tube" feeding bottle, and Artificial foods. It was not so much prohibitive legislation, that was required to exclude these .things, the . Minister remarked, as education. Dr. King was to be thanked as much for his lecture that night as for the work which he had done, and in which he bad been so ably assisted by Mrs. Truby King. It had given_ him great pleasure to grant Dr. Trtiby King leave of absence to visit the Old Country, and to represent New Zealand at a conference on infant mortality. He believed that when Dr. King demonstrated the work that lie-had done the members of that conference would be duly impressed. The people of this country, Mr. Rhodes added, were only beginning to realise the importance of the work done by Dr. Tniby King. M'lien they had fully realised it'they would accord him tho praise that was his due. Finally, the Minister wished Dr. mul "Mrs. Truby King a very pleasant trip to the Old Country. Mr. Justice Chapman spoke of the piiergy which Dr. Truby King threw into whatever work he undertook, and declared that tho work upon which ho was engaged would ultimately provo of tho highest benefit in a growing nation' liko Tho motion was carried by acclamaKing said that it had pleased him rreatly to hear Mr. Rhodes's reference to his wife. Two people had been onga"ed in tho work with which his name was usually associated, and in some of its ramifications the work had been carried out almost entirely by Mrs. Truby Ki'dk. Tn moving a vote of thanks to tho chairman, Dr. Watts-Mills, congratulated Mr. Ma=sey upon being Prime Minister when such a magnificent work was being done as that with which Dr. King was associated.