UNKNOWN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 7, 27 May 1914, Page 4

UNKNOWN

THE CAUSES OK MaLXUTP'TIOX., iNOT want of food, hut witoxo FOOD. By Telegraph" -!'re-:s Assoc.,..i ion, - Auckh-nil, Last Night. Oonsulera.blo inteivs' has heel, aroused by the report furnished in it week to the WcJ|jn ß ton Education Hoard by Dr Elizu'uc-th Cunn, Medical Inen.-cior re.i garding the health of chiklr»..i j„' tht various city and count.!',' sc!i«-ol a . In Particular, mud), .surprise has been expreyed at Dr. Gunn's .*luteni t »t that in some schools no lew tl,:, u 50 per cent oi the children were suli'ering Porn malnutrition. °

Some interesting <-riti K -i,ma vi the report wore g.vcn by Dr. (!. L Cawkw.ll, who recently retired from the 4e rwc. of the Health Depart,,.,,* in ortS7 to commence private practice Dr. Cawkwell was in the medi cal inspection of seh 0 „i: f„'-,". AwSSd province from October, 1912, to JZ lnia when he was removed from tie North Auckland. Dunne hu, term of o/.i«Dr Cawkwell pe.onlll/ex'amlnel 1738 children, and presented a series of four reports to the Education Board on the subject of the health of scholars "I am quite sure," he said, "that Dr Gunnij statement regarding the prevalence of malnutrition in some school* is due to a misunderstanding as to classification. Jn Auckland, we agreed that the terms 'good,' 'medium' and "bad* should be used in classifying the malnutrition of children, but Dr. (i unn »-. pears to have lumped all the cases of inferior malnutrition under one head which is manifestly unfair. Personally' I found that cases of marked malnutrition totalled 5.7 per cent., and those <rf medium malnutrition 14 per cent., making 20 per cent, altogether. These figures include both city and country school*, but I can sifely eav even in the wor.it schools T \i ~JJH]id Wic eas-oB of malnutrition amoiimfSff {(> per cent., or anything like it. Such a state of affairs might be fo.ind in ttie slum schools of Lond.m, Edi.-ihurgh or any of the big cities at Home. '

"1 lave worked in the. English slums, and from my knowledge of the conditions there I can say that tlwe is no comparison with anything to be found in New Zealand. In my inspections here I have found that Vu arrival"* from English towns are i:lu,i>st invariably ill-nourished ami much below the average physique of lore.l school', lam sure that not one per cent, of the illnouriiihctl children in the schools owe- ■ their condition to sheer lack of food! Unsuitable food, doea\ed teeth, and undue hurry in rating,ara the most common causes. Too many children eat nothing but pastry, bread and jam, and! starchy food of that sort for their lunch, and that in a hurry. This is chieflydue to carelessness or ignorance l>n thepart of the parent.--. "Very few New Zetland fai.iilies can--not afl'oid to buy good fool and plenty of if, hut the trouble is that mothers; do it..!, give Hioir children the right food, prepared in the right wav. Dental decay is undoubtedly rife in this country. Ninety-five per cent, of Mm child, rcn J inspected had it in various dcV grew, and it seems to ho wrv eenornlly neglected. One wonders if pVuents ever lock at their children', teeth ...intil toothache, calls their attention', , .Uiny 0 f tho Ixiys, T. found, km-iv nothing of the use of a tooth-brush, and preferred ttt have » tooth out rather vti.Tß get it filled. Aider girl* very often had ne\f gold fillings in-their front teeth dently because they were afraid for their beauty, hut the molars were often badly decayed," , ( * BassaaßK C.i