SCHOOL CHILDREN'S HEALTH

North Otago Times, Volume CIII, Issue 13651, 19 August 1916, Page 3

SCHOOL CHILDREN'S HEALTH

' FEW SERIOUS COMPLAINTS, i ":, To be the sole medical 'inspector of well over 30,000 school-children is the -.. - task, of, Dr .E. Baker,'the- well-known ' Christchurch lady doctor. "I have the '." North Canterbury, South Canterbury . Wcstland,-Nelson, and.. Marlborough " schools to do," sli e said to a 1 Press , reporter • recently, and leaving out ; : Nelson and Marlborough; there v ;are ■ :i2,00p ot--33,000 . a y».al*"t .Wlfi. a .yiat, as Welt'as ■giViifg, hea llh addresses,- lecturing ".the - Training School students and other little things like 'that.'-'' ' . ' "Don't you-have any assistance?" ' Dr. Baker was asked.' , ' .' , /'I haven't even got a motor-car or a : typewriter," was her. laughing'reply; , :. • Dr..Baker liiadc.-soine very interest-' '•; ing remarks, on the nature of her work. ; " The very small .schools, she explained, ••• she did not visit, as-it was'nof, worth '' while to make"long journeys in order '•:' to see about a dozen children, but all '- the larger-schools were inspected. 'Be- '!■■ garding the younger .children, t'hc.sys- ■"• t'e'm was to pick out a number of child- "•'' ren from standard 11. and- to examine J. them. "Out : -pf : the-'way ; complaints" v. were not specially looked for, but those ',!. more common to children. Each child -•'• examined' had its particulars marked X down on a card, and, if necessary, de- '/• tails of any complaint it might have ■" were, sent: to its parents.-She her- •.-- self made- no attempt to -treat the V children, though suggestions were sent ?■ to the parents, who" could take the f child to a doctor, or, if their circuin- y stances did not permit of-..this,.-to a -, ; hospital where the child could be treat- t ed'free,. |;] "On the whole," said Dr. Baker, | •"the health'of the children is very- ■• good, though there is' -a percentage of ■-, 'weeds.' These children arc 'weeds* V for various reasons, some of them from ; birth,- some: frpm-improper ' home treat- '■;- ment, -arid some from acidents or seri- {' ous illness-early in-life." The chief .' ailments to-be found in the .children were, she continued, tonsil troubles, adenoids, and defective teeth. -There was very little incipient tuborculosis amongst the younger children, but in " many of them it was latent, and showed,. •, •out in-later years." , "I always impress upon the children \ the value of fresh air," saidDr/Baker,' j-"lt-js all very well.to talk about,this; •'• | in' the /schools, but, it 1 would' surprise' f you to see how little notice is taken ;'. of it in some rooms, I asked one little ;'. girl the other day how many children were in her bedroom at nights. She . replied that there were four, and when • ■'. I asked if the windows were kept open at nighty she gave a smiling, though em- ; phatic affirmative, but when I, asked liet how wide, she showed me about half ; an inch with her fingers. The smallest/ • -. (jrack seems to be sufficient space for the'. ' inlet of fresh air to some people.' A great many grown-up people, are in tho house or the office all day, and the only prolonged perod of fresh air they can have is when they are in bed at night with the window as far open as it will t . . go." ' Questioned as to the general state of.. the children's teeth, Dr, Baker replied ." that 1 it was still very bad, but miimproving, The dental 'sections of .the - various hospitals were doing maguifieeiit work. "There lias been- much talk of school dentists," she continued, "The great difficulty there would be the tremendous amount of retrospective work that would have to. be done, Once that was completed, it would be a comparatively easy matter to keep the children's teeth in repair, but it would be a very big hurdle at the start. Here again, much can be done at home if parents would only take moro interest.. in their offspring's teeth. I have always wondered' why the general public have not gone in for dental clubs. They have medical clubs and lodges ;<■ why not dental also? The public could do a lot for themselves and their little ones." ■ ' ,In,conclusion, Dr, Baker said that. ( occasionally she found cases of scarlet fever and other more serious complaints, but very seldom, and the trouble was usually "confined to adenoids and ton- . ~ slls in the younger children and defect' ' ive eyesight in the'older ones, -•