HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 May 1943, Page 6

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

VALUE OF WINTER CLOTHING. PROTECTION OF CHILDREN. (By the Department of Health). This business of wrapping up for winter has plenty to recommend it, but it is carried a little too far in New Zealand—a little too far, that is, for the good of our health. As a race we wear too much in the cold weather, though for some of us cold mortals too much might not seem nearly) enough. It’s largely habit. Clothes are needed primarily to retain the body heat. Loosely woven wool and pure silk (if you can get it) do this best. The warmth of the clothes depends on the still air they trap round the body. The still air next the skin is a bad conductor of heat. It holds the heat there, and absorbs more heat from the body. Underclothes must imprison the air. They need to be of loose weave, or knitted, to hold the air and to let some of the moisture evaporate. They must be absorbent without tending to saturate too quickly—in other words, they must hold the air and mop up the moisture from the body. Loosely woven cotton or linen do the job quite nicely. < It’s a good idea for children to try wool on top and cotton next the skin. In between, a slip or petticoat or blouse for school girls; for boys a shirt beneath a jersey or pullover. The healthy child' can stand a lot of cold. The practice of many New Zealand youngsters or sleeping in their underclothes is to be deplored. By day a layer cf moist warm air is caught in the spaces of the underclothes, and the perspiration which goes on even in the coldest weather —about a pint daily—makes these underclothes damp. Both underclothes and skin want an airing. A complete change at night is essential, and the day clothes should be spread out to air.