HEALTH OF SCHOOL CHILDREN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81917, 6 February 1907, Page 2

HEALTH OF SCHOOL CHILDREN

OUE.STION OF MIMICAL EXAMIN ATION. Per Press Association. Wellington, K'bniurv o I'r Mason, Health Ofliccr, ".us prepared a repjri with reference to the periodical medical inspection of school children, especially with regard to nose and throat complaints. It may , be repealed (hat in most parts of the | world, the importance of ear, eve, and teeth examination of children from a health point of view is righl'iv recognised. i)r Masons proposals "are concerned wuh 'l)io,roiigh!y safeguarding children. His desired to discover in good time ailments or defects in the eve, ear, nose, throat, teelii or skin. Many children sulfur from adenoid growth, which not interferes with with proper breathing, but by blocking: up the cninal leading (o the' ear, pro" duces an amoun|l. of deafness which impairs the ability of the pupil to take full advantage of what the leajehcisays. The unhealthy habit of mouthbreathing is usually the result of ob struction at the back of the nose. The inhalation of unwarned air, Unit is, air which has not passed through the nasal passages, has a deleterious ell'eei on the sensitive lining of the lungs. The sense of smell is also diniiiiislicd 'llly noriiise of the membrane lining the nose. Another most important point is the question of eve-sight and eyo-sfraim. Headaches, of which children between thirteen and fourteen years complain, arc in many instances due to some physical defect ill the structure of tile eye. Occasionally you find children accused of inattention and backwardness, wiien, as a ina„tcr of fact, they may be unable to see the blackboard. In addition to examinations by medical men, teachers will be asked to keep u careful watch on children and note those, who are nll!iet,ed with a cough. A little drv hacking cough is often the foreword which consumption gives. The importance of rccognisiNg tiiis is yerv great indeed, adds l)r Mason, not vml'v for the sake of the rougher, but fie other children. Or Mason states that nil precautionnve being taken to prevent the iiil.ro (lnetioii of plague info the colony.