HEALTH IN THE COLONIES

Evening Star, Issue 23335, 3 August 1939, Page 11

HEALTH IN THE COLONIES

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND DIET SURVEY OF THE EXPERIMENTS (British Official Wireless.) Press Association —By Telegraph Copyright RUGBY, August 1. Economic development as a remedy for undernourishment in the colonies was suggested by Lord Dufferin, Undersecretary for Colonies, in a broadcast address. Experiments in the colonies had shown that where men were given a properly balanced diet in place of the traditional diet deficient in quality, they were healthier. Although the Governments in the colonial Empire had abolished dangerous famine in their various territories many people were still undernourished. This serious state of affairs did not only exist in the British colonial Empire, but existed to a greater or lesser extent all over the world. _ Diets, it was shown, were frequently insufficient in quantity and still more frequently deficient in quality. Even if there were enough food iu bulk it was very often not such as would give a man proper nourishment. It often consisted almost entirely of one staple foodstuff, which could not of itself supply all the heat man needed.

Economic development was necessary to remedy this state of affairs, said Lord Dufferin. The colonies must become richer by increased exports or by increasing their internal trade. Either course, however, would take a very long time. Lord Dufferin recommended that the first thing that should be done was to see that as many people as possible grew and used the right kind of food—more animal products and more green vegetables.