DOMINION'S HEALTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19981, 25 June 1928, Page 11

DOMINION'S HEALTH.

AMERICAN DOCTOR'S PRAISE. | "STANDARD FOR THE WORLD." MAKING LIFE ENJOYABLE. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, Sunday. One of the foremost authorities on public health in the United States, Dr Woods Hutchinson, who is the author of a number of standard medical works, has completed a tour of New Zealand. " I have known for many years," said Dr. Hutchinson, "of the splendid work you are doing in New Zealand in connection with certain phases of the public health. We have a saying in America, when anything is spoken of that seems almost too dramatic to be true, 'in the movies they do it,' and so, in relation to social welfare work and health work, we say, 'in New Zealand they do it.' "New Zealand has a very admirable type of population, an almost ideal clinnte, an excellent diffusion of prosperity and welfaro and an admirable and abundant food supply. The first thing one notes with appreciation here is the child welfare work, which has been so admirably carried out in every way, and in which Sir Truby King has managed to reflect the spirit of New Zealand. "A Perpetual Inspiration." "The work has been a matter of perpetual inspiration. The standard that has been set by New Zealand is one that ambitious health administrations of cities all over the world, particularly in America and in England, have endeavoured to rival, and, if possible, to surpass, although they have not done so yet. "To my mind, as a writer on public health, it is one of the most hopeful features that our boards of trade, chambers of commerce and similar organisations are putting health statistics right in the forefront of thoir announcements and programmes. They are making a strong point of the fact that a particular city is a place where you can bring np a healthy and happy family. That strikes me as being a high type of rivalry very much better than mere population or wealth or other features of that sort. "One of the reasons for New Zealand's prominence in that respect is that you have such a high and admirable type of health officer, that the aim appears to have been to get the best men and then give them as free a hand as possible; and the results that they have assisted to produce speak for themselves. Ourgratest drawback in America is the deplorable uncertainty of tenure of office. "New Zealand has been greatly helped in the splendid record it has achieved by the almost ideal climate. We have, in America, to fight against from two to six feet of snow in the winter, and temperatures of 20 to 40 degrees below zero. That means a huge fuel bill and perhaps a little more affection for plenty of heat than' is altogether wholesome. Interest in Outdoor Sports. "While it is customary to think of the besetting sin of America as overheated houses, we do not find any increase in diseases such as pneumonia, rheumatism and bronchitis, which are usually supposed to be associated with changes of temperature. In fact, our rheumatism rate is rapidly declining, while in England and in most Continental countires it is increasing. "We have come to the conclusion very decidedly that since we have increased the span of life nearly 50 per cent, in the last 40 years, we must unite with that increased length of life all the movements that go to make life more enjoyable, otherwise it simply means prolonging lifo without making it worth while. "While I have been in New Zealand I have been very much struck by the tremendous interest taken in outdoor sports of all kinds by the smallest children, up to the young business man. A visitor cannot help noticing the enthusiasm displayed, and also the fact that New Zealand and Australian teams hold their own in every branch of sport. fhoso aie things that help to make life more enjoyable and at the same time healthier and more comfortable. "We are coming to the same conclusion in America. We no longer chase the nimble dullar so much as wo did, and we are beginning to take things easier and more sensibly." Dr. Hutchinson said he had visited a number of schools in the Dominion, and he spoke in terms of appreciation of the method of ventilation and of the control of the heating arrangements by the teachers. He also spoke most favourably of the work done at the denfal clinics and of the training given to the school dental nurses.