HEALTH SCHEME

Grey River Argus, 11 September 1941, Page 8

HEALTH SCHEME

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN AUCKLAND, Sept. 9. In order to bridge the gap between the time when the average mother dispenses with the Plunket Society care for her child and the time when the child commences school, a system of examination of pre-school children was started at the Auckland Plunket headquarters on Monday. The society is co-operating in this with 'the ‘Health Department/ and the doctor who is to examine the children is employed by the department. , The retiring president of the Auckland Plunket Society, Mrs J. C. Allan, stated that the average mother dispensed with the society’s care when her baby was about two years old, and from this time until the child went to school many defects in health frequently arose. To combat this the mothers were asked to take their children from the age of 18 months to five years to the Plunket headquarters for examination by the doctor there for the purpose. The children are to be thoroughly examined and advice will be given to the mothers for correcting such ailments as wrong posture, flat feet, bad teeth, throat troubles and so on.

I Exercises will be suggested where necessary, and advice given on cor'rect and corrective feeding, while in case of dental defects the child . will be sent to a school dental clinic. In cases of more serious trouble the child’s own doctor or a specialist jwill be recommended or it may also sent for massage or other treatment to a hospital. No charge is to be made for these appointments, and they are not to be confined to mothers of Plunket-reared children. Treatment will not be given at the clinic at Plunket headquarters where a special room has been set aside for the examinations. Heating arrangements have been installed and a Plunket nurse will be in constant attendance with Dri Rhoda Robb, The medical examiner. I The work is to be definitely preventive, to stop abnormalities arising and to enable the child to be sent to school in nerfect health. In the case of the Plunket children, their case cards, already filed at headquarters, will be filled in again by the doctor, and finally handed to the school doctor when the child starts school. The idea of continuity is thus to be effectively carried out. i