YESTERDAY'S CAMPAIGN

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 32, 1 November 1917, Page 6

YESTERDAY'S CAMPAIGN

LECTURES AND DMONSTEATIiDNS.

The "Sara the Babies'' campaign, carried out under the aunpicas of the Royal New ZeaJand Society for the Health of Women and Children, was continued in the Concert Chamber of the Town Hall yesterday afternoon. Mrs. Massey (president of the society) again occupied: tho chair.

In opening the proaeedings, Mrs. Jlassey remarked that the future of this little corner of the British Empire depended upon the physical end imoial health of its children. The sacred duty of rearing strong, healthy children, clean in body and in mind, was never of such paramount importance aa it was to-day when our British race was being so depleted by this terrible war. The children of to-day would become the men. and women of the future, and their influence miffht become world-wide. More important work than the training of item to be God-fearing, clean-living, hoEOurable men and women, a credit to their Sarents and their country, it would bo ifficult to imagine. Importance of Saving the Babies. Miss Inglis, matron of St. Helens Hospital, gave a very instructive address, entitled "Well, Born, Well Bred, and Well Fed," and in tho course of it many points of special interest to mothers were stressed. "Never in the history of the world," she told her audience, "had this subject of the eaving of the babies been of such importance. During the past three years and more, while our nation was at war, the awful sacrifice had brought to us a|t last tho need of preserving the young lives that owing to ignorance, dirt, disease, and sin were being sacrificed in such numbers that eomeone had said 'It is safer to be an infantryman in France than an infant in England." , Tho two organisations of St. Helens Hospitals and the Plunket Society alone had done much to reduce the death-rate among infants, but thore wns still niuoh tji do. The right to be well born was t;ho natural heritage of every child. T/ais did not moan that the parents must be of high social standing, but that they should bo healthy nnd self-respecting, with a full recognition of their responsibilities. Few women realised the importance or the care of their own hoalth when they knew that in n few months thoy would become mothers. During this waiting timo the prospective mothers care ot herself both as regarded her bodily and her mental hoalth made a great efleot on the coming child. The woman who resented and fought against her coming responsibility:, who did her best to get rid of it, had little love for it when it came, and was virtually committing murder or oven more, for slip Drought the child into the world, and did ner best to deprive it of health, good temper, ami sano mind, and everything that should make it a happy and useful member of society. A mother's atbtudo of mind at this time had much to do with forming the ultimate character of tho child. S« far as her own health me pnneorned no one had any doubt ot its influence Many neglected their health either from ignorance or pressure of work, or from laziness. With bad eeth food could not possibly bo digestd and so troubles arose, and frequW lv the mother could not feed her crnlc, because her food had not beea *M,milated Alcohol was a temptation to some mothers, and nothing but pity could beMt for the children of aloohouo mien& Many women did not know that tU. *ere disorders of prejnancy that could he remedied and even prevented with just a little cars, and aitanlTt St Helens hospitals and from the PlMtat nurses expectant mothers could always obtain advioe.

The Ideal Baby Food. The ideal food for the baby was, of couwe, the food nature provide* for it when born. Wβ constantly heard of almSt anything but milk iniik arrowroot , biscuits, granose biecui™, jellies, beef tea-which are no good for tlio children. If the mother's milk failed the best substitute was cow 8 milk, but this was of a different ««™tmw h> S P TSopWK SafX •al "the chile?would sleep ell night and bo good all day. Feed regularly, and ™ako the child if it were time for its food- it would go to eleep again; and, Sorer, sleep all night if fed regularly "nd .üßiciently all day. It was; just as Via<l In <»ive too much as too little. nforters" were dirty uWy, and taught' a bad habit. If tho child were well born ami well fed it would not need a comforter. . Breedin". which might be expressed in other words as training in good manners good behaviour, and good temper should begin in the infant's first week o life. Every mother knew how soon the child began to learn, bnt .t had onW ntiP wav of expressing itself, and tmix was bT crying. It did not necessarily show who was master, and it would not be the mother.

The Training of Children. There was no niwe Important teaching mm¥m attor for their parents." It "H'St'* tf ani flMly ICtL " School Life. T)r Ada Patte.-son, medical inspector of schools wal next asked to speak,-and B he

took as the subject of her remarks the objects of the medical inspection ot schools. "If the world is to.progress, . must be by means ot children, die "aid. "It is only as the children- of each generation are stronger, happier, and more capable than the one Isetore that the world gets better. iWdajs, ■ people realise this, and realise How important it is tffat children should have every opportunity of becoming as strong, as happy, and as capable- as possible. One of the most important ways ot helping children is by their school life, and we now try as far as possible to see that children at school are ill the test possible circumstances. There never was a time when more trouble was taken to train a child at school, so that ho gets the best chance for after-lite. Many children never get the best out of school life because they are not m a fit condition to learn when they come to school. 'A child to learn must be comfortable, he must be clean and comfortably dressed; ho must nave hud a good breakiast; he must have had a good, long, refreshing sleep the night before. He must be in good health. It had been found that many children were not ; in a lit state to benefit from school life. Dr. Patterson went oil to say that the Government bad taken much trouble to find out about conditions of land, cattle, etc., but little was known ot the condition of school children. Then began medical' inspection of schools. It hud been found since this hiul been started that many children were not developing and not learning rapidly because ot some simplo and easily-remedied defect. Many children, it had been ascertained, did not see, hear, or breathe properly, and they were apt to be thought stupid, quite undeservedly. As a matter of fact, much could be done to help 'them. Clothing had a great deal •Iμ do with thehealth of the children. The essential points about it were that it should be: (a) warm enough; (b) loose enough; and (c) light enough. Woollen garments should be worn next the skin, and tor boys an Oxford suit was preferable (o tweed, which was rather too unyielding, and lasted too long for growth. A school costume of tunic and knickers was advisable for girls, and the thighs should always bo well covered. Therewas no necessity to go to the other extreme however—as it was foolisti to have too many layers of garments over the chest and legs. A frequent cause of ill-health was the inadequacy of the boots which were often worn by children. During her visits of inspection to the schools, Dr. Patterson said, she had sometimes noticed the children wearing leaky boots, which must necessarily be hurtful to health. Adequate sleep was most necessary for young childden. From four to eight years of age they should have at least twelve hours of sleep; from nine to twelvo years, eleven hours; from twelve to fourteen years, nine to ten hours; and from fourteen to twenty years, nine hours of sleep. To secure a sound sleep a comfortable l)ed and. quiet surroundings wero essential. Sleep in the earlier part of the niglit was best. Children of ton years of ago should bo in bed from half-past eight at night to half-past seven in the morning, and they should be allowed i» evening pnle/\/liment involving close' rooms and mental excitement. It was an unfortunate fact that in many homes the conditions for hoalthfnl sleep were absent, owing to noise, disturbance, and foul air in tho bedrooms.

Sources of 111-health. One of the great enemies to children were adenoids, which wore caused by an abnormal growth of tissue, blocking tho airway behind the nostrils. Jiouihbrenthing became established, sleep was noisy (snoring, in fact), and various other symptoms showed Ihomselves. Changes in the face became very manifest, tho cipression becoming stupiu, Hie noso undeveloped, and the teeth very cramped in the mouth. The chest, too, did not develop, and sometimes the child became pigeon-chested. Ono very certain effect was the lowering of the general health. The intollect Jmcaiue dulled, and deafness among children suffering from adenoids was very common. To treat these cases, correot breathing in a well-venti-lated atmosphere should be established, and handkerchief drill taught. Food should be thoroughly well masticated. Slight cases of adenoids could be cured by means of the above directions, but never severe ones, and au operation .should not be delayed, as risk was being run of permanent injury k> the child's development and hearing. Yet another frequent source of danger were decayed teeth. It was now recognised that a clean mouth was more imporuiit than a olcan face, and iliac tho M.ro of the child's teeth would add to his present vigour and happiness, and help to ensure his future health and suur.rss in life. Bad teeth gave rise to such diseases as blood poisoning, coiiSMipcioi), pneumonia, diphtheria, rheumatism, and ■many others, because disease germs multiplied rapidly in a decayed tooth. The minute germs of the diseases mentioned mijlit lodge there and multiply by the thousands in a few hours. Disease ge.'iM could also enter the body through s decayed tooth. The decayed epet eommoicated with minute vessels that entered tl:= tissues of the body. When the <i:s ease germs entered this body they gare rise to the corresponding disease. Bad teeth caused stomnch troubles, becsuss poisonous materials and germs were swallowed with every mouthful of food. This caused poor digestion, bad breath, poor nenoi-fll health, and liability to illness. Bad teeth also rendered chewing difficult or impossible, and food which was rot thoroughly chewed and mixed with fho saliva caused indigestion and constipation. They also caused toothache and chronic toothache made children nervous and irritable.

Treatment of the Teeth. When the baby was born the buds of all the teeth, both first and second, were present under the gums. Anything that interfered with the baby's health interfered with the nutrition of the growing teeth. Natural feeding was best for the child's health, end therefore best for tho teeth. If they were not used when they were growing, the teeth would never grow strong. Children should therefore have hard foot! to chew, such as crusts, oatcakes (to. A hard apple was a eood finish to a meal, and too much soft nnd sweet food should be avoided, as it satisfied the appetite without exercising the teeth. Most important was it to ten the teeth cli-.m as iinclcanliness led lo decay. Biscuits and sweets between meals were very bad for the teeth, as the particles stuck in the cracks and readily fermented. The habit of cleanin" the teeth should bo begun early in life. Bach child should havo its own tooth-brush, and be proud of it. Thor-

oufflwess and regularity in cleaning'the teeth were thoroughly essential, llicy should bo cleaned at least once a day. but better still, after every meal, and always the lust thins at night. At tho least sign of decay the teeth should be treated, and a bad tooth should, uovcv be allowed to stay in tho mouth. Defective eyesight was often met with in children, wore in eiris than Jii boys, and more in towns than in the country. Overstrain should be avoided. Practising music in a bad light was one of thu causes that led to overstrain, and another yet more frequent and fruitful one wus the kinematojjraph at which children of all ages were to be seen so constantly. ... ~ . Mrs Brown, late matron of the haritarn.. Hospital, Dunedin, followed Dr. Patterson, and enlarged upon some of the points made by the previous speakers, ■ilso wiving demons rations ot how the l>a\iv "should be covered and placed in the cradle, and various other matters of essential interest. She also spoke of the necessity of fresh nir. sufliciency of warmth in the matter of clothing and i coveriui's cleanliness, and exercise. This afternoon, arrangements have been made for the attendance of Hie senior girls of colleges and schools nt the demonstrations and lectures.