NAVY LEAGUE CASE FOR SPINACH

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 92, 15 October 1940, Page 15

NAVY LEAGUE

CASE FOR SPINACH

ENTRY INTO SCHOOLS

FURTHER CONSIDERATION

The refusal of the Wellington Education Board to grant permission to enable representatives of the Navy League to enter schools during school hours has not ended the matter. The Wellington School Committees and Educational Federation complained to the board after that decision' was reached; and a letter from the board read at a meeting of the federation last evening stated that as a result of re ? presentations being made by the Wellington Returned Soldiers' Association the question was to receive further, consideration at the board's October meeting. . Mr. E. Miller (Berhampore) said it was very gratifying to find that only one city member had voted against the proposal at the meeting of the Education Board. He hoped that the federation would have a little more sympathy from board members, who were put in office by Wellington school committee members.

Mr. C. H. W. Nicholls said he regret-1 ted very much that he was a member of such an important body as the Wellington Education Board when the board did not pass that motion. He felt that after consultation with representatives of the R.S.A. the atmosphere would be cleared to a certain extent, but there were one or two difficulties cropping up. One difficulty —an important one—was that the commercial aspect had been mentioned. The board had to find out whether there was any commercial aspect. He was pleased, however, that up to the present there was a handsome majority of Wellington members on the board in favour of the federation's request being granted. Mr. J. R. Searle (Hataitai) pointed out that two Marlborough members of the board, both returned soldiers, had had to leave before the vote was taken. If they had been there the voting might have gone in a different direction. WHY NOT TRUST THE COMMITTEES? Mr. J. Fyfe (Newtown): Is the Education Board- representative of school committees or headmasters and teach- j ers? The school committees are all in favour of the entry of the Navy League. Why can't the Education Board trust the school committees? Mr. A. Spiers (Upper Hutt) commented that there were 200 schools in the Wellington district, but only twenty-four were represented on the federation; yet a great deal of attention had been given to the federation's suggestion. A point to be considered was that if the Navy League were granted entry other organisations might seek to do likewise. Mrs. M. G'Doilnell (Te Aro) said it was only a year since the federation itseL; .had rejected the proposal. Certainly there wer,e a lot of new delegates now, but there were also a lot of old delegates. It was just an indication of how minds could change, and she thought the board might change in the same way.

Colonel T. W. McDonald, a member of the board who was present at the meeting by invitation, cautioned the delegates not to be too optimistic about the outcome of the next meeting of the board, because he remembered that one of the Marlborough members had once before voted against the proposal. Times were changing rapidly, and what was done twelve months ago had nothing to do with, what was done today. The Empire could not survive without the Navy, and the Navy, relied on primary schools to provide its future personnel.

A CHARGE ANSWERED

Some children are careless about washing. Others won't eat their spinach. Nobody comes to the rescue of the dirty boy: there never were, of course, dirty little girls; but the boys, and girls, who wouldn't eat spinach found, some time ago, a champion of high degree. He talked in chemical terms, and said the children were quite right. One of the things that children need is lime, for the good of their bones and teeth, and that there is something in spinach that makes the lime in their food useless. And in the end, of course, a boy who lived on nothing but limestone and spinach would first lose all his teeth and then become a boneless wonder, very valuable in a circus but only a nuisance about the house.

But now it appears it isn't so, or at least, not so much so. There is, in spinach, as in some other vegetables, a small quantity of oxalic acid, and this does have the effect described on the lime in such foods as mijk. But its effect has been much exaggerated. So much spinach can affect only the lime in so much milk, and this can be put right with a little extra milk, and thet virtues of spinach—which nobody denies—still remain.

The subject is dealt with in a report by the Nutrition Committee of the New Zealand Medical Research Council isued by the Health Department. This report. states: —

"There are often more than a dozen scientific publications bearing on this matter, and from a study of these and from calculations based on the oxalic acid content of spinach, the Nutrition Committee is in a position to state that, putting the worst possible case against spinach, 3Joz, which represents a liberal helping of this vegetable for an adult, can theoretically render unavailable calcium of one-third of a pint of milk. But on the other hand it has been found by a number of workers that even when spinach is given in the diet, some of the lime bound by its oxalic acid still gets absorbed, so that we conclude that the body has the further power of changing some of the oxalic acid and releasing the lime for absorption. As regards varieties of spinach, that known as 'New Zealand Spinach' (Tetragonia expansa) contains more oxalic acid than other varieties. However, one of the reviews consulted ended by urging that spinach be still used for children on account of its high content of minerals and vitamins, and for its effect in improving appetite and increasing the movements of the alimentary tract. One of the minerals that it contributes in available form in small amounts is iron, which prevents anaemia in infants as well as adults. Authorities differ as to the quantity of iron available in spinach for use by the body, but at least there is some, and every little helps.

"The remedy for any deleterious effect is simply to give a liberal supply of milk to make up for the supposed loss of calcium (lime). As spinach is such a useful vegetable for infants, it is worth adding that, even if an infant received two tablespoons of spinach puree, twice the usual helping, the ordinary variety of spinach would render unavailable at the most the calcium of one-twelth of a pint of milk. It would not be difficult to give a little extra milk to make up for this, and indeed, it is probable that the quantities