Weight and Health

Hutt News, Volume 15, Issue 14, 3 September 1941, Page 8

Weight and Health

4 ~.. ~\." .•• ;-.•■■ •: . • 1 ' jj|n» of Interest that Appeared id recently was the cabled ; Wat people to such tidings Would be feellnga.of deepest iym- " ' It jnas a no hardship whatever, when lj,; fe undertaken voluntarily. inv deed, thousands of people have voluntarily abstained f?om,_easng.any spirt of food for-weeks' onend,alid; ; l&f from suffering, have actually - appeared to enjoy the, exps£tencs. ' To undergo a period of restricted eating as a matter of one's . ow.n choice 1b a vastly different proposition from being compulsorily obliged to do so through circumstances over which one'.has no control; as in, the present instance. And, to lose comparatively large amounts of fat, even if. it is , surplus fat, is..a most demoralising experience for people who lack sufficient. underStanding of. physiological., processes. It is therefore of little consolation to these Londpners to be told that a Bmaller waistline, is, generally speaking, to be regarded as a ■ despite physical advantage. Never? theless, jit is a fact, a fact is being borne out by the comparatively high standard of health that exists in England to-day. Medical authorities have been r amassed at the . lack of epidemics and sickness generally amongst Britain's population after nearly two years of war. Not pniy Britlßh medical authorities, but American as well, who, it may be remarked, have sent over a mission of scientists to investigate the phenomenon at first hand. Now, it is rather a curious belief with many people to regard the relatively fat , person as one who is particularly healthy.,. Somcj fat is certainly required a number of 4ise£yi. in body as, for ijDstancei.in tection and ..support ,to. kfdnelns' and in filling up recesses and rounding out angles, but beyojs (lie fillment of these strictly cal purposes, any excessive iat may become a nuisance and even a vet* dangerous burden. n Fat i people , seldom live to any great age. True,, there are exceptions: we know of several off hand, 6ut any insurance company wiU wager againßt th,e,fat person living s as long as the one. When we say, an insurance company will the life span of a lean ipan as against the fat one, w& are speaking the literal truth as a perusal of the respective policies relating to the lean and ftit people will reveal. Take no chancer —they know. Of course many. |( people travel all through life wi£h never a' care or a pain, and it . is mainly oa this account that so many of have come to regard the excessive fat as symbolical of health. However, the carefree,happy-go-iuckyj; nature of .so many of these peoplecannot be ascribed to their load ot fat, but has its origin in the soUnd and healthy functioning of their digestive organs (including the hirer),' which, in turn, are mainly responsible ,for the presence of their load jf fat. . 1. # A certain amount of fat is, as at reaay stated, an essential part qf our mafce-up, but it may rightly h* asked, what constitutes .an excej-' 4ve load 1 , Now, very few people have any idea as to how much the) 1 should weigh, and, to make matters w;orse, the various weigtjt . one . sees on many weighing machines are often coii il.cung and misleading. As a matter of fact, these tabled do. not rep resent the ideal weight, or the normal weight: they merely represeift the average weight. The average, weights of consider,able numbers 01 individuals, and consequently tfyp: results produce weight tables which are generally tqo light for youu% people and far too heavy for elderly people. After 40 or so, there shoufu be no progressive increase in one!s weight. On the . contrary, there should be a tendency to decline from the late 50's at any rate, and instead of weighing a stone or more heavier than 20,.0r 25 ,years younger, the ,'should be slightly, Jess, .(Unless, of course, 1 one* has maintained a very vigorouai | physical standard right Ihrough- [ out). Weight, however, is ,not,;th€' j very best index of one's physical i condition. Of two people of ,ap- | proximately the same weight and : height one may be normally , well I muscled and physically well, wherej . as the other'B tissues may be com- | pletely encompassed in fat. The latter may even look well, but put him to any physical test, and the" results will speak for themsfelves. However, although the weighing machines and their tables are by no .means infallible, they provide a near enough guide for The best guide of all is appearance' and feel, but, of this reir Quires .songe expert find , experience.' This most ination will reveal to presence of • :• excessive A fat, and what his eye. to ■tmjm his trained fingers veal and, furthermore, IwIImBSI {nay be substantiated by nuwetotri§ physical tests. , Excessive, fat Is a dangerous dis-j

and tymrs to fttnctiOhV tad wife afti r orflthefr is no exaggeratloh tDgi|y, thai the, tlfc, . fae geij|»gly'''• ala|me<k; And be would > maturely collapße of cash jvijl buy b|Ck health. We itta&bsr ttih of course, tfytin the last ipa|jil||i|:i^)he ) ' #ikar ft'; '