OUR BABIES

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 9 May 1925, Page 15

OUR BABIES

By Hygeia. [Published under the auspices of the Boya] New Zealand Society for tlie Health. of Women and C’hi'dren (PlunUet BUSY JAWS. The following is a summary of an address delivered by 'Dr. P. H. Buck. Director of Maori Hygiene, to the New Zealand Dental Conference, which met at Auckland recently:— Dr. Buck stated that- the pre-Euro-pean period of diet was divided .into two stages. The first inhabitants arrived by accident in the course of a drift voyage, and later two canoes came from Eastern Polynesia on a search expedition, the party remaining in New Zealand. None of these people had brought food plants that could be cultivated, and they found nothing of that'nature' in the flora of the country. In 1350 there was the great migration from Hawaii, which brought the sweet potato, the yam, the taro, and the gourd, as well as the dog and the native rat. Before that year the Maoris had to depend entirely on fish and fowl, there being no mammalian diet avai’fible. Birds and fish were preserved. When the fresh-water eels were on their way to the sea, weirs were constructed, and huge quantities of eels netted and preserved. Even at this time, said Dr. Buck, the Maoris had a system of barter, the coastal tribes exchanging preserved fish for the “potted birds” that the inland tribes possessed. The need for . carbohydrated food (starch) was fully recognised. As these early people had nothing they could cultivate, they had to fall back on the fern root. In some cases the starch was extracted, and. the fibres having been removed, the Maoris made little cakes. These cakes, however, were a luxury, and the fern root, after neing roasted and beaten, was generally chewed. The kanaka, the tawa, and the hinau berry were the only berries in general use. The season for'white pine and fuchsia berries being comparatively short, the latter did not form an important part.of the diet. Even the tutu berry was not important, there being no method of preserving it. The beverage of that clay was water. There were no alcoholic beverages. Maoris Worked Hard. With the introduction of the food plants in 1350, the Maoris put a. great deal of energy into-cultivation. Some districts and soils did not suit the tropical plants introduced. The ground had to he prepared for the growing of the sweet potato, and the plant had to he carefully tended. The yam whs found south only as far as Tologa Bay, the taro reached Cook Strait, and the kumarn reached Bank’s 'Peninsula. In the far north the sweet potato grew well, also in Auckland isthmus, Taranaki, and the Bay of Plenty. Dogs were limited in numbers, and therefore only used in families of rank. The rat was trapped and preserved in small quantities, making it a minor artie’e of diet.

. Dr. Buck pointed out that the Maoris cooked their food well, hut the preserved birds and fish were tough and required considerable mastication, ancl, of course, tliere were always the fern root, which regained its popularity even where the kumarn grew. He produced two skulls— one from Niue, which on examination showed that the teeth had been used on a. soft diet; the other Skull, ’ that of a- Maori; showed the teetli ground flat on the biting surface, with the first molars actually dislocated, .through persistent chewing of the fern root. Short Cuts to Health.

Referring to the good teeth, of the Maoris, Dr. Buck contended that diet was oiily one element in the matter. As a result of civilisation men were seeking short cuts to wealth and short cuts, to health, and were endeavouring partly to. solve the health question in the laboratory, taking only ope element, but leaving others which could not be reasonably ignored. The oldtime Maori lived on the hill forts; he worked hard in his food cultivatbtfl; lie had various occupations, such ing canoes and houses. The race was physically fit. But the effect of civilisation was to remove the necessity for individual work, and people did not get the physical exercise they required. The question was how far diet affected the teeth and how far one’s ordinary every-day life entered into the problem. He believed the latter was as important as, if not more 'lmportant than, the former. Heritage of Good Teeth. Dr. Buck concluded, his address by pointing out that the dental disease had increased with civilisation. The pre-European Maori had the second lowest percentage of dental disease in the world, 3 per cent.; the Eskimo be nig first with 1.4 per cent. To-day amongst English school children the percentage was 86. Dr. Buck thought that another factor to. be considered was that of heredity and the conditions of life. People did not get sufficient exercise. He thought New Zealand was sti'l young enough for its people to meet the situation and ensure good teeth for their rising generations by paying attention to these various points of importance.