The Daily News. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1919. ILL-NOURISHED CHILDREN.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 September 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1919. ILL-NOURISHED CHILDREN.

In bringing the subject of poorly nourished children before the Conference of Technical College directors, Mr George, of Auckland, has drawn attention to one of the problems of child life that demands a rational and speedy solution. He stated that lie lias never known so many boys to faint after drill as lie has this year; and he attributes this calamity to the lack of nourishing food—the absence of fat substances such as butter—due to the pinch of poverty consequent on the high cost of living. The evil, however, is one of long standing, it being generations old, and it arises not so much from poverty as ignorance, not unmixed with selfishness in the direction of taking no proper care and trouble over children's food. Mr George is convinced that the solution of the problem is State maintenance of school children. That might be a palliative, but it certainly would not be a remedy. There is far too much leaning on the State instead of facing and overcoming troubles on sane and logical lines. The root of this food evil is to be found in the utter disregard of the principles of domestic economy and the tendency to adopt the line of least resistance, as well as the craze for shams instead of reali- | ties. It is seen not only in the ease of the treatment, of children, but in the easy-going tendencies o£,young people of both sexes employed in various occupations, also in those who have reached the stage of parenthood. Money spent on food that will not nourish, such as tea and buns or cakes, instead of wholesome nutritive food that could be prepared by a little time, care and trouble. It is the knowledge of the laws of hygiene and domestic economy that is needed far more than State maintenance, which is another name for charity. In addition to which should be inculcated the criminality of waste—a sin that is particularly rampant in the Dominion. So long as these evils are allowed to exist, so long will they be transmitted from generation to generation. Let anyone visit the primary schools of the country at the lunch hour and see for themselves what the children are provided with to eat and how much waste goes on, and if they make the same inquiries as did Mr George, they will probably find that the children's diet for the twenty-four hours is in most cases more suitable to developing a taste for sweet things that ruin the teeth and digestive organs than for creating healthy robust bodies. "Where the State can do good service is to insist on every child being taught hygiene, cooking, food l 3ftj| l donaacfi of. tdfline.

I with the laws of health. Plain, : wholesome and nourishing food is ■no more expensive than the other | kind either in the first instance or Jin the long ruu. If parents I treated their children with a tithe of the care and trouble taken over [valuable dairy and other stock they would soon banish and obliterate the blot that looms large on family life. There is a growing tendency towards creating a raee of food faddists—people who say they can't eat this or drink that. The Dominion needs, as never before, that its citizens shall be virile, of good stamina and of the greatest physical and mental power that can be attained. "We cannot eliminate weaklings, but we can and should minimise the | number and adjust the balance by ! seeing that the children have a fair start in life by means of possessing healthy, well-nourished bodies and clean, minds. It is extremely difficult to uproot the effects of indifference that has become almost a disease. The greatest asset of the State is the rising generation, and that being so, it is not too much to expect that the ■ welfare of the young should be zealously supervised, not by the , State becoming a prop for indolence and ignorance, but a compelling power that will not tolerate t malnutrition. It is true that I cooking is one of the subjects taught at technical classes, but what is wanted is not sponge sandwiches and cakes, the great need j being the production of nutritious food out of inexpensive articles. - It is to be hoped that the subject will receive the consideration that J it urgently needs, and then we may 5 hope for a manifest improvement . in the health and strength of the children of the Dominion.