“HOW TO KEEP WELL”

Taranaki Daily News, 15 December 1921, Page 8

“HOW TO KEEP WELL”

ADDRESS BY DR. TRUBY KING. IMPORTANCE OF GOOD At the Stratford Town Hall on Tuesday night Dr. Truby King delivered an address entitled “How to Keep Well and Live Well.” Dr. King said the big percentage of British men called up for war service and found to be unfit was largely due to lack of care in infancy. An examination of young women would perhaps show a worse result than an examination of young men. Women's work tended to debar them from physical exercise and much damage was done by mistakes in clothing. The wearing of corsets and of irrational boots had done a great deal of harm. The teeth of the people of New Zealand were in a deplorable condition, and all the denistry in the world would not put them right. To keep our place in the world we must give up living artifically and pay proper heed to the laws of Nature. It was absolutely necessary for every person to take daily exercise equal to an, hour’s walking. For seven years previous to the forma- , tion of the Plunket Society the average number per hundred of babies who died in their first year was 8, but by 1912 that, average had fallen to 4. A comparison of infant mortality in New Zealand and American citic~ showed New Zealand to great advantage. The figure for Wellington was very high for New Zealand, but. he had set his mind on reducing it. in five years from 7to 34. A child grew most during the first and second years of life, and another great period of growth was from the age of 12 or so. Forcing children through school examination did much harm. They should go to bed at an early hour nrd no c -miinatipn should keep them out of bed. Milk teeth were formed out ox «.ue jiood of tnc mother before the birth of a child, and their condition depended upon the condition of the mother’s blood. The condition of the second teeth, formed out of the blood of the child, depended upon the condition of the child’s blood. It would therefore be seen how important it was to exercise proper care of the infant and the mother.

The people who came to doctors and suggested that they were tired of life were generally found to be dyspeptic or suffc ing from some similai disorder. If a person were infected with the germs of any disease the matter rested on whether the germs were stronger than the blood cells. A healthy person whose blood was in proper order could cast out germs, but if the blood cells were in poor condition the germs would leave permanent ill effects on the person. Children in the North Island should be taught to sleep out of doors.

Mr. McMillan said that they should recognise that New Zealand’s good position in regard to child welfare was largely due to Dr. King's fine work. A vote of thanks was passed to Dr. King, and in acknowledgment he said that he took a keen interest in everything in reference to Taranaki, which was his own province.