The Dominion SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1926. A HEALTH CERTIFICATE

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 6, 2 October 1926, Page 8

The Dominion SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1926. A HEALTH CERTIFICATE

The latest testimony to the health-giving conditions ot hie in New Zealand comes from a distinguished medical authority in the persor of Sir Arbuthnot Lane, president of the British National Health Society. Basing his comparisons on the proposition that death statistics are more vital than birth, he places New Zealand first amongst the overseas Dominions in the quality and physique oi its population. . , .. There is no doubt that the people m this country are very happily placed as regards climate and conditions ot living. There is, however a further reason for the high place we occupy in the comparative health standards of the Dominions. As a nation we have-not readilv, it must be admitted—submitted to a gradual extension of the State’s solicitude for our health and well-being. Years ago the appeal of Dr. Truby King for a systematic supervision ot infant welfare was as one crying in the wilderness. To-day his work and achievements arc acknowledged by the wqrld. I- is now recognised that our beneficent climate and tree conditions of life notwithstanding, the nation's health must be safeguarded by effective organisation. With an excellent start, we have profited bv the experience of the older countries and avoided the creation of slums of the kind which foster disease and stunt physical development. Our health regulations are probably the strictest in the world, because in late years we have made a business of being healthy. Wc have pure food laws, school medical inspection, school denta clinics, effective supervision of buildings, plumbing, and drainage. We have our Plunkct societies for the promotion of infant welfare, with the allied activities of the pre-natal and ante-natal clinics for the welfare of the mothers of our children. Physical training is systematically pursued in our schools and in our Cadet and Territorial camps. We have cultivated the open-air ideal, and a‘re increasingly living out of doors. This systematic effort in the direction of national good health is gradually evolving a new and imposing physical type in New Zealand. The younger generation is noticeably taller and more strongly developed than its predecessor. There is no doubt about that. Abundant testimony was forthcoming from those who saw and admired the physique of the New Zealand contingents we sent to the war. . Sit* Arbuthnot Lane asserts that the same results are achievable in Britain. That may be so. but to achieve similar results implies the 'emoval of long-established and widespread conditions —a prolonged and costly undertaking.