HOLIDAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20454, 4 January 1930, Page 7 (Supplement)

HOLIDAYS.

BY A MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT.

There are very few people who can go without a holiday for an indefinite period without their health, physical and mental, suffering. On the other hand, quite a large number of people make a very poor use of such holidays as they have largely because they have not understood what holidays should be. Just as sleep can be seen light through the realm of living things represented by periods of rest and recuperation, so 'holidays" Are taken by certain animals when conditions become unfavourable for ordinary life and -" hibernation," for example, o-curs. So with the human being; after a period of activity waste products accumulate in tho muscles and parts of the brain which have been in use and some complete change is necessary if recupeiat:on is to take place and the efficiency of the bodilv machine restored.

Holidays should, then, always be a rhange from ordinary work and surroundings, and to ensure that this will for every member of a family, including tho Jiousewife, needs careful planning. Chango of air is necessary because in sortie little understood way this seems to stimulate the body and helps to tone up tired muscles and jaded nerves, while change of scenery and surroundings bring into action new parts of the brain. E\eirise on a holiday needs careful regulating. and it- is always a mistake, for the Rodentarv worker to begin suddenly to j)lav tennis or golf all day long. Indeed, many people tire themselves put on a holiday just because they do not realise that an athlete'.-, stamina cannot Suddenly bo evolved overnight m a city .worker.