OUR BABIES

Hawera Star, Volume L, 29 November 1930, Page 14

OUR BABIES

[By Hygeia.]

Published under the auspices of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society).

SUNLIGHT AND HEALTH

Spring is with us at last, tlieie is warmth in the sun when it shines, and our thoughts begin to turn now and aoain towards tne summer Holidays, wTtili 'longing for sunshine, and the out-oi'-doons. instinctively there 1,- a bit of the sun worshipper in most ot us. and of late years so much precise knowledge has been accumulated regarding the* heneiieient power of the sun that one feels that .perhaps we are seeing the beginning of a new “Cult of the Sun. based on scientific facts and a wealth of careful experiment. Thus is what Dr. C. W. Saleehy an authority as well, as an enthusiast on the subject, has to sav about sunlight and health: “Sunlight is the source of all life upon earth. We have lately learnt that it is no less valuable lor ourselves than for plants and doctors all over the world are getting back to thei ideas which animated Hippocrates, the ‘Father of Medicine,’ in Greece loui hundred years before Christ, when. he took off his patients’ clothes and nnvde them bathe in pure air and sunlight. (That, bv the way, is the real meanm„ of the Greek word, ‘gymnastics ) “These discoveries about sunlight aie quite distinct from what we have already learnt about fresh air, though the two things go naturally together, and the coal smoke which befouls the air also obstructs the light. Many expei - ments in laboratories and 30 of experience with artificial light foi the cure of disease (begun by Finsen of Copenhagen ill 18931 have proved that lioht itself,'in any kind of an’ "'lnch will let it pass, has special actions upon our bodies, peculiar to itself and, P 1 °- ciousi for our lives.

THE BEST ANTISEPTIC

“Even before that date we had leai ut that sunlight is an antiseptic— the oj c - csti, cheapest, safest, most natmaj, most widely applicable in the The. germs of tuberculosis have been experimentally found to «urvive Mtci two years in the dark ; pure, «mdight ol the ordinary intensity hi this count y undimmed by coal smoke th germs in from seven to ten minut Wherever pure sunlight falls it kills deadliest enemies—whether emmets or pavements or clnicnen s mav “rounds or saiidheaps.nl.the paiks m anywhere else. There .is little c o fear of contracting any infection anywhere in the open where the sun shines. Most of our infectious diseases are diseases of indoors and the shade. It l been proved by exact experiment that sunlight raises the. antiseptic ponei of the blood by its action on tho ri te bln fid cells. -No chemical antiseptic, but only the celestial, has tins po,\ei.

THE ONLY SKIN FOOD

“We sometimes readl advertisement?, about ‘skin foods.’ There » no: such food but sunlight. Certain parte of the tio-ht pass throu.g'n the sum and are absorbed by the blood, which is enriched accordingly. Very city dwellers have enough iron in their blood, ioi they are li"ht starved. The coal smoke which blackens us also 'bleaches us When we are exposed to sunlight the amount of iron in the blood rapidly increases- —without any change ot diet -01 the taking of any ‘chemical foods. Doubtless sunlight, with iks, potent chemical action, may cause the colours of carpets to fade; but colour in our children’s cheeks is more beautiful and more valuable than in any caiP 6“ Ties ides iron, we now know that lime phosphorus, and iodine aue, 1 leased in the blood by exposure to sun. lio-ht These elements are necessary for all of us, but pre-eminently toi children, whose bones and teeth cannot develop properly without abundance: of lime and .phosphorus, nor the brain and nervous system without abundance of iodine. When studying the lose a relies on tins subject in New xoi k T saw manv infants whose blood had f4u transforms and their rickets exorcised by a fortnight’s exposure to the sunlight. diseases of darkness.

“Indeed, there is a whole series of diseases which can he prevented and cured bv sunlight, and whidi do not occur where people property value sunlight and use it as they should these, some years ago. I gave tie name of ‘Diseases of Darkness, lubcieulosis and rickets are examples ot these diseases, and it is very important to know that they yield not only to the sunlight of the high Alps m Switzerland, but also to the pure sunlight undimmed bv coal smoke, of our own [ country. HOW TO USE THE SUNLIGHT.

“But we must understand how to use what we have and make the most of it. Probably the most valuable part of the light is that which wo call ultra-violet — just too high in pitch for our eyes: to see. Ordinary glass, which does not arrest the visible rays, stops the ultraviolet. There we cannot avail ourselves properly of the sunlight behind closed windows. Unfortunately coal smoke acts like glass and arrests the very rays which we most need. Wide use is now made at the Zoological Gardens and in our schools and. hospitals of the ‘vitaglass,’ made by our chemists in response to an appeal for something cheaper than quartz, which I made in 1924. “It is the light and not the heat that serves us. Beyond a certain point heat is enervating and depressing, while light is a. true stimulant. The early morning hours are therefor© the best, giving 11s a maximum of light without, too much heat. This is a useful purpose served by ‘daylight saving.’ What a pity that the early morning hours are scarcely more than a rumour for most of ns.’ In order to remind mothers of this point J use a little couplet thus: Fear the heat and love the light; Keep your children 000 l and bright. “The next point is to he careful always to protect the head and the eves.' (In Switzerland many people actually have to wear dark goggles.) An inexpensive white-lined hat, very light in weio-ht. such as athletes often wear. L the Tdeal thing for this purpose. “ ‘Hasten slowly’ when beginning to give your skill the value of the sunbath Remember that nearly the whole of tiie body is unaccustomed to the light, A very few minutes are enough

for a. start. The faster the skin tans the more we can expose it. No one yet understands this tanning or what i b realty means; but it is a, beneficient process, and we can use it to guide ourselves as to our use* of the isun. Those who do not tail, but freckle, should go even more slowly than others, until the skin can be persuaded to react properly. “It *isi certain that the improved health of women to-day partly depends upon their modern style of dress, which gives the sunlight a chance to, reach the skin (whether uncovered or clad onlv in, for instance, translucent sleeves and stockings) and so enrich the blood and sejve their, lives.”