Wool Contest for Polynesians

Mana (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 15, 23 February 1978, Page 2

Wool Contest for Polynesians

The Plunket Society has launched a wool crochet competition in the Auckland area as a special contribution towards the winter health of Polynesian children.

Health surveys have shown that small Polynesian children are remarkably more susceptible than European children to colds, bronchitis, asthma and other respiratory infections.

The children catch cold more often, and find colds much more difficult to shake off. The asthma rate is more than twice as high as for European children. And colds often set off asthma attacks. So Polynesian mothers must try much harder than European mothers to make sure their children are warmly clothed and warmly bedded during the winter months.

Cotton is the normal fabric worn in the Islands and in the colder New Zealand climate inadequate protection is offered to those who continue wearing cotton or extra layers of it. Even in Auckland’s relatively mild winters, health workers strongly recommend that wool clothing is an essential rather than a luxury for children. They say that when some mothers first appreciate this need, they buy soft fluffy clothing which is not made from wool, and has a lower insulation value. The warmth of cotton and man-made fibres, for example, drops by 90 per cent if they be-

come wet, so that they may provide'virtually no warmth at all. Wool, even when wet, retains half its dry insulation value, a factor which can be important for infant health.

The Plunket Society contest is therefore part of an effort to educate, and at the same time, to

provide a do-it-yourself incentive which may help save money in the long-run. All garments in the corchet competition must be suitable for infants under five years old. Entry forms are available from Plunket branches and wool shops. Entries close on April 7.