The preśS MONDAY, MAY 20, 1918. A Physical Census.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16216, 20 May 1918, Page 6

The preśS MONDAY, MAY 20, 1918. A Physical Census.

The immediate object of tho medical examinations of the mon called up for service -with, the New- Zealand ExJ>edrtsonary Force is served when tho recruits are classed as fit or unfit for /Snijitary work. But it will be a great .pity if the information thus obtained as jjta the physical condition of the men of jffche Dominion, from early manhood fijjntU early middle-age, is not made public, so that the people generally, and that section that is particularly concerned, may recognise wherein lies the. need for an improvement in their mode of life. Some suggestion of the kind of official report which should be useful is furnished by some statements made .by a medical officer to a "Wellington ixiteryiewer, who asked if any conclusions were to be drawn from the results of the examinations. These, ,it may he mentioned, as far ns tliey have gone, rsreal the interesting fact that Gloss B of the Second Division, the married\men up to 44 with one child, have come better through the test than have those of Clnss A, married, with no children. Out of 13,312 Class A men, 12,028 have been examined, and 32.89 par cent, have passed as fit, while of the 9817 men of Class B, 3053 have so far been examined, with a "fit" percentage of 37.11. Naturally, as tho - medical officer remarked, the percentage of Second Division men who in the military sense were fit, was lower than,' in the First Division, because the age factor was. against many of the m.arriedi reservists. But, obviously, though tho physical standard was not unsatisfactory, the ago of tho reservists who presented themselves for examination was not in itself sufficient to account for the percentage of rejections. Many of the married men, it was noticed, had let themselves "run to seed," a regrettable fact, and one not creditable to the men. There is no reason, it was pointed out, why a man should become flabby and short-winded after ho has passed his thirtieth year. "The man under "forty -who finds that he cannot do a " short sprint after a tram without dis- " tressing himself, ought to realise that "he is not treating his body proporly." The cigarette habit was touched upon, i As might be expected, many reservists I ■with "uncertain" hearts admitted being heavy cigarette smokers. But the doctor parried tho inevitable question as to what was a safe limit, expressing the opinion that if men did not know how far they could go without "spoiling "their wind" and otherwise injuring themselves, they must be careless or unobservant. As is well known, a number of otherwiso sound men hare been rejected on account of old injuries received in football or other sports, which, while not interfering with their fitness as civilians, become serious disqualifications' for military service after a man has passed his third decade. "The sports," said the doctor, "are ."Usually do their bit in the uiariy a one has been conto a' civilian because '■ Trhich. give* him

no trouble in the ordinary routine of his life. On the other hand, if the consequences of playing outdoor sportß sometimes bar a man from entering the army, the result of taking no active part in games is an even stronger factor in the same direction. "We confess to being surprised at the statement that the man whom tlie Medical Boards have often mot is "the fellow "who is simply flabby." "He has "never played games, never taken part "in athletics, never swum hard or " walked hard. He does not keep a " garden, and he goes to work and re- '• turns on the tram. Thero may be " nothing materially wrong with liim "constitutionally, but £3 is a hopeless "specimen from tho recruiting point "of viow. because his muscles are de- " generate and his whole physical or- " ganisation has become incapablc of "responding to a strain."' It is astonishing to learn that such a class of man, apparently a somewhat largo one, exists in a country whose critics havo occasionally accused it of being too much given to sport. It is the strongest argument in favour of physical training and compulsory games at school, and that followed by compulsory military training in tho Territorial force.