ILL HEALTH IN SCHOOLS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17475, 20 May 1920, Page 4

ILL HEALTH IN SCHOOLS.

DOCTOR DISCUSSES CAUSES.

Two factors affecting the health of children wero mentioned by Dr. PlatteMills in the course of a deputation to the Minister for Education in Wellington on Monday. The doctor &id she had been struck with the number of children show ing alight physical deformities. At first she had attributed this to the desks and overcrowding, but on inquiry she found the trouble lay further back—that many children entered the schools with these defects, which were due to congestion in tho dwellings and to lack of certain nourishing foods. If these children were not to grow up with bitter feelings against the system which caused their deformities some remedy must be found. Another surprising fact was tho number of children suffering with bad nerves. This she attributed to lack of parental control, uncomfortable homes, and. too frequent attendance at picture shows, which had a detrimental effect on the nervous system. The impossible dramas and problem plays could not fail to affect the children. The standard of the pictures was higher now than befvre the censorship, but they should not be catisfied till a woman was associated in the censorship. These things were of great importance as touching medical treatment in schools, for a good environment was more important for health than the doctor or the nurse.