A HEALTH ESSENTIAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 283, 29 November 1937, Page 6

A HEALTH ESSENTIAL.

(To the Editor.)

j I have read with deep interest the decision 'to send 1200 school children to sunshine camp*. I venture to assert that the lack of sunshine and fresh air in Auckland homes —so prevalent for some time past —is the chief factor in the "damaged" health conditions of our children. Even with the additional milk supply and •hi»h wanes our children are deteriorating. I : know that much of the malnutrition is due to • wrong food. Many children are given the same ! food "and quantity of food for dinner and iother meals as their parents and other grown]ups; also nerve strain through the noises «f i vehicle* and wireless. Quietness is one of the [essentials of health, and the effects of the !growing noises by night and day are ruined ' nerves in children and older people. lam dismayed «s I pass along the suburban streets these lovely days to see beautiful homes as well a.s cottage homes with the windows tightly closed, and the blinds almost down to the .bottom —not merely for the mid-day hot sun but from morn vo night, only about a foot of curtain showing. The small windows so prevalent nowadays need rebuilding—they are a menace to health. Plenty of light and sunshine are essential to healthy rooms. Truly [the housewives, many of them, love darkness rather than light, and the children as well as themselves are suffering a heavy penalty. Why not prevent all these "damaged goods," as Dr. Gunson calls them? Where are our mothers? Why this ignorance and negligence? Homes | are for use, not ornaments. SUNSHINE.