THIS IS YOUR BUSINESS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 91, 14 October 1926, Page 12

THIS IS YOUR BUSINESS

A TYPICAL INDUSTRIAL HK.-UiTlt TALK.

Without question one of the most useful, and ouo oi' Hju most, appreciated, activities in connection, with Health Week is the series of health talks now being given in shops and factories, and if there is one regret about them it is that it lias been found quite impossible for the doctors lo visit all those places which should he v isit.:'d, if time allowed. In. this work l.ho industrial Committee has been, given the readiest assistance of Brs. Platts Mills, Sylvia, Chapman, D. C. Pindlater, Boyd, Mercer, Gordon Kemp, W. Hutchinson, Harold Corkill, Beaumont, CattelJ, Childs, Line, and Sister Lewis, of Hie !!.'jd Cross. Equally important is flic ready co-operation of employers, and in almost every case- the spirit, of that co-operation U summed up l.y two words: "Come -gain." There is nothing sel; or stodgy alimif Ilicse lalks, llie.y are, phoit, bright, and telling, and. before, the campaign cuds, it is estimated, well over 5000 persons.

young and old, will be addressed at. their places of business.

"The health of the nation," said Dr. Plaits Mills in a health talk at one of ihe larger city workshops 10-tlay, ''is your affair, if we are healthy, tlicn life is worth living, and if we have health then undoubtedly we have happiness, both of body and mind, and we do better than that, for we radiate happiness and cheerfulness about us and help all those we know as well. Those who think about ihc good of others do most good for themselves." Almost every baby was born into this world n^-a healthy slate, said Dr. Plaits Mills, even though its parents were perhaps unhealthy anil delicate. Health right through li.f-3 was a gift, to be had merely for the taking. The rules were exceedingly -simple, fresh air, exercise, a cheerful outlook upon one's self and upon others, avoidancj of excess in food and pleasure. LOOKING AHEAD CHEERFULLY. Young peopl:; should think of health, not in any lugubrious fashion, but as a cheerful business, and if they did so the walk downhill after middle-age was reached would, be a pleasant walk, instead of the toilsome struggle which so many older people had to face, simply because, when they were young fclk, they negloet,?d, probably through hick of knowledge rather than through lack of cave, just those simple things which would have helped them through life, because as young people (hey exhausted their store of health and lost Ihc good start they had at birth. GIVE THE STOMACH A CHANCE. Food should be thoroughly cooked, but not overcooked, the stomach should be given a chance to finish one. job before another job was piled on top of the work still unfinished. Generally speaking, three meaL a day wove enough for anyone, but those meals had to be adequate meals. How many young poeplo started off to work with a, breakfast that was not a breakfast, and how many more ate lunches that were not lunches'.' If the breakfast was inadequate then morning tea, she believed, was necessary, but she was not at all so sure about the necessity of afternoon tea. Whatever meals were eaten it was essential to remember that (he stomach could get through only one job at a time, and full digestion of a good meal took four hours. .Sleep made for health, sleep in a room with ample fresh air, with the window open both top and bottom. The reason for both top and bottom opening was that fresh air came in at the bottom and the foul, warmed air went out at tho top. Without that circulation ventilation could not be complete. Erect posture was of the greatest value, for in that way all the organs of the body were kept free, and uncramped; erect posture helped one to swing through life in a cheerful sort of way. EXERCISE AND HOBBIES. Exercise should be taken outdoors, not, watching others playing, but playing oneself. A hobby was real rccrca-

S Cleanliness, both in thought and a k action, is the paramount habit to a $ ba cultivated, for with that habit \\ 3 established much has been done to n | build up self-respect and character. jsj p A healthy mind in a healthy body ;; i| is the floal, and the healthy mind gj 3 is recognised as the only sure way <3 B of maintaining the healthy bosly. $

tion, something which one did for oneself. " sour hobby can be butterfly hunting or gardening', carpentering or tramping over mountains. It docs not matter," said the doctor, "it ia something that you do for yourself, in your own way, to please yourself, for the sake of the peace of mind and the contentment which it gives you. Never mind if you do it badly; that does not matter. Have a hobby." "If you think health then you will be healthy; if your thoughts are right you will do right, and, doing right, you will be cheerful, and one's thoughts are reflected on one's face. We can make, our own little atmosphere and that atmosphere will spread round about us. The cheery man meets with cheery responses, and helps himself to swing along the better with life's pack upon his back."

In America, said Dr. Platts Mills, the idea of periodic medical examination had become very popular, and without a doubt its value was very real, for people wcj.t along and asked: "What is wrong with me? Js there anything wrong with me? And how can I put it right." Mew Zealand had not got that far along the health road so far, but the individual could see his own doctor with profit. At least, he could think cheerfully for himself: "Am I getting all the real fun, the fun that conies "from a healthy body and- mind, out of life. Am Ins cheerful as the next chan? If I'm not, then why not?" '