OPENING OF CAMPAIGN

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 126, 24 November 1922, Page 5

OPENING OF CAMPAIGN

GREAT POPULAR INTEREST

TAKEN

The Wellington Health Campaign Week received a vei-y successful inauguration last night before a large audience in the Town Hall, which is equipped along- the aisles under the galleries with displays calculated to furnish object lessons of the main principles of the maintenance of sanitation and hygiene as exemplified in addresses of experts. These displays are simple and to the point. There is a model sick-room in which the simplicity of the environment brings out the essentials of light, fresh air, and cleanliness. Next there is a model openair school with, a roof to cover the pupils, but no walls, except movable ones of canvas, to hamper the circulation of fresh, air. Model bathrooms and heating appliances' add to the lesson, and then on the other side is a stall devoted to the arch-enemy of man—the housefly. Means of destruction are displayed from the various types of whisks and "swotters" to subtle sprays and traps. Dental development is shown in a most interesting collection of" casts and exhibits. Common causes of disease are illustrated and the insanitariness of some common features of the ordinary household. , The Plunket room is also very interesting, showing what may be achieved by following the latest examples in child welfare.

THE MAYOR KICKS OFF,

The Mayor (Mr. R. A. Wright), in opening the campaign, paid a high tribute to the work of an excellent committee with the limited fund at their disposal. The object of the campaign was to encourage people" to take care of their health. The idea, was to impress on- the'community the fact that health was the greatest asset of life. Every part of Si© community would, benefit from the better health of the individual. Mr. Wright referred to the health of tha Hebrews as an example of following a regular code of life and diet. They wefe all very much indebted to the medical men for the sacrifice of their time in the service they were doing. (Applausa.) •

IDEALS OF CITIZENSHIP.

Professor Hugh Mackenzie delivered a brief address on "The Ideals of Citizenship,'.' urging the sense-'of duty and responsibility as how to arouse genuine civic consciousness and conscience, disinterested co-operation with other members, of the community. There was a universal drift to the cities, tending to bring about conditions adverse to the individual if not sometimes .disastrous. This made it desirable that ideas and ideals of citizenship should receive fuller attention than ever before.' It was a call for the enlightened members of the community to give service. The claims of the general welfare required the attention of, every citizen. Amdng the claims were problems of sanitation and public health. The clean home and the clean backyard were the gist of the idea. Sanitation arid public hearth must occupy the first place. The appeal must be largely to the women for their place in the homft and their responsiblifcy for tho family. (Applause.) Men had their responsibilities in the business part of the city. It was a fact that too many citizens displayed ignorance or contempt in. regard to matters of public welfare. Problems were raised also by the competition of the sexes in the industrial and commercial world, and: the lessened regard for motherhood. •'•-Professor Mackenzie made a fervid appeal, in conclusion, for a better observance of the ideals of citizenship. .

THE FQOD WE EAT.

In the course of the evening, Dr. Hard-wick-Smith delivered, in accordance with the programme, a short address on the subject of "Food and Vitamines," on the lines generally of his Red Cross lecture earlier in tho year. Vitamines, the speaker, described as the essential lifegiving part of food, without which food became dead and useless. He empha^, sised the importance of fats in the diet of .'children, and of adults also. Fats were the ramparts against disease. Animar fats were of greater.value than the vegetable fats in the growth! and formation of the body and upkeep of health. A large percentage of children died or became deficient in growth and vigour when fat was wanting- in their diet. Lack of fat predisposed rickets, poor teeth, anaemia, phthisis, and other diseases. Of valuable forms of food for their fat the doctor mentioned butter, cream, bacon fat, and boiledl puddings as useful for children. At the' same time no hard-and-fast rule could be laid down.

Another point emphasised by th« •peaker was the danger of the excessive use of a meat diet as in Ifcw Zealand and Australia. Of all the foods, meats were certainly the most poisonous when taken in excess. It was a fact, though | not well known, that appendicitis was practically an unknown oiseise among natives who lived on a non-msat <iiet. In New Zealand, appendicitis was one of the commonest diseases, and he was sorry to say was on© of the chief causes of death amongst children. Too much meat was the cause of a nervous condition in children, because meat was a stimulant as well as a poison. On the 6ubject of vitamines, Dr. Hard-wick-Smith, stressed chiefly the importance of the proper cooking of foods, so as not to, kill the vitamines and the eating of green vegetables and fruit and again in the.proper inclusion of fat vitamines in the diet. In conclusion, he suggested that, possibly, the solution of such diseases as cancer—most dreao 1 disuse.of all-r-might be found in the'use of vitamines. Cancer was a disease of the end of life—as it were of a body worn out before its time. "Treat our bodies well," he said, "and age will grow on us lightly; our minds will remain bright, sane, and unclouded to the end. What was more beautiful in age than a clear, bright mind in a healthy body?" ,

Daring the eveningl an attractive programme of musical and recitative items ■wae given by such artists as Mr. Albert Bussell, Miss Eileen Driecoll, Mr. Hamilton Hodges (vocalists), Mr. Claude Tanner ('cellist), Mr. A. Stanley Warwick (elocutionist). Mr. Harold Whittle accompanied on the pianoforte.