THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 November 1920, Page 6

THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN.

PREVENTION OF ADENOIDS & THE EVILS OF MOUTH BREATHING. (Published under the Authority of the Education Department.) Next to dental disease, adenoids are perhaps the commonest defect in children. They may cause serious interfernecc with both physical and mental development. They increase liability to infectious and respiratory diseases, and at the same time render these diseases much more serious. Eighty to ninety per cent, of ear-aches are due lo adenoids, and more than half of all the eases of deafness. In obstructing the back of the nose they cause mouth breathing. Habitual mouth brelithing may seriously interfere with the jjutrition and development of a child. The air as it passes through the nose is saturated with moisture, is warmed to blood heat, and is filtered of dust and germs. In mouth breathing the air enters the lung cold, dry and dusty, and is irritating to the delicate lining of the bronchial tubes. There are three important causes of adenoids: Mouth breathing, insufficient exercise of the jaws in mastication, and catarrhal diseases affecting the nose and throat,

It is of great importance to take every opportunity to train children to keep the niouth shut and brea'the through the nose. I With some this may not be an easy (natter, but trouble taken to pievent habitual inouth breathing will he well repaid by.a lessened tendency to the various maladies resulting from it. It is especially important during sleep, when mouth breathing is particularly liable to occur. The mouth may sometimes be kept closed during sleep by bringing the head forward or by folding the bedclothes under the chin, or it may be necessary to use a chin strap. Older children should he specially encouraged to keep their mouths closed while breathing fast during exercise, lly persistent endeavor to breathe through the nose lesser degrees of nasal obstruction may be overcome. It is essential to cultivate the closed-mouth habit after an operation for the removal of adenoids. The error of feeding children too exclusively on soft, pappy foods has already been referred to in these articles. Vigorous exercise of the jaws in the mastication of hard food is essential to the proper development of the palate and nasal passages, and is an important means of preventing adenoids. . Common colds play a considerable part in contributing to adenoids, and will be. discussed in a subsequent article. It might be emphasised that it is impossible to expect a child to breathe through the nosn while it is blocked with discharge. From the point of view of cleanliness as well as health a handkerchief is absolutely essential, and children should be trained in its proper use. Coupled with a sound set of teeth, a healthy, well-developed nose and throat, are of (lie very greatest importance to health all through life. The prevention of these maladies rests almost entirely in the hands of parents.