TOWN CHILDREN MOST HEALTHY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 25, 30 January 1926, Page 32

TOWN CHILDREN MOST HEALTHY.

COUNTRY CONDITIONS BAD.

MOTHERCRAFT REPLACES IGNORANCE. Where are the healthiest, most rosycheeked children to be found? Many people would answer, "In the country, of course." But it is an entirely mistaken view, in regard to England, and probably elsewhere. All the evidence goes to show that it is in the towns, and especially in London, where the children are best nourished. It is quite common, writes an investigator, to find that children in the rural districts are of poor physique. This aspect of the nation's health was referred to by the chief medical officer of the Board of Education, who wrote in his annual report:— "In rural districts there is no assurance that we are going forward." Another medical authority put the matter briefly thus: —"Poor physique goes with poor home conditions." While yet another well-known doctor said: "Country children's home conditions, as a whole, gravely need reform." Country Contrasts. It is among the farm labourers' families and those of the non-agricultural workers in rural districts that frail children are mostly found. Children of farmers aro strong , and robust, but the children of farm labourers are of poor physique. In one rural district th« number of ill-nourished children, in 1912, was 21 per cent. In 1920 it was only 4 per cent, but it increased again to 12$ per cent in 1023. All medical officers agree that there has been an enomous impovement in the health of the average child during the past 25 years. Further progress will be extremely difficult unless there are better housing conditions in the country cottage and in the city tenements. An inquiry into the subject is now being made by numbers of school medical officers throughout the country, at the instigation of the Anthropometric Committee. Dr. Eric Pritchard, one of those who lectured recently to Mayfair mothers, in the series organised by Viscountess Erleigh, said:— "Whatever may be the condition of country children, I can tell you that the London child ie in a very good way. This is principally due to two things— the greatly-increased intelligence of the London mother and the infant welfare movement. Knowledge That Counts. "There are fashions in everything; and just as twenty years ago the longtube feeding bottle, the 'comforter, , ajid swaddling clothes were the fashion for the to-day mothercraft is a fashion." Inreply to a "Sunday Times" inquiry as to the relative health of London and country children, Dr. Pritchard said:— "I should say that the London baby thrives in spite of, and not because of, the London conditions. But it is a great point in favour of the London baby that, instead of the mortality rate being higher than in the country, it is only about the same. "It is knowledge that counts, and even if the mother is in a slum she can keep her room clean. I am sure that those who know anything about bringing up their children would put them on a flat roof for an airing if they couldn't get them to one of the parks. "The intelligence of the London mother has increased beyond words."