A QUESTION OF DIET.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXIV, Issue 4870, 23 January 1903, Page 4

A QUESTION OF DIET.

It is profitable and interesting at times to survey the cold, dry figures of the statistician. He has revolutionised the method of writing history, and no one who would understand the manners, customs and public acts of modern nations will ignore tho facts his figures disclose. From those wo are enabled to measure the progress and development of all nationalities. The extent of the public and private indebtedness of ono State or country' is placed in apposition to that of another, and J>y a process of easy' comparison one is able to determine tho relative wealth of both. When population is tho subject, wo aro enabled from the interesting data presented to noto the fluctuations and growth of nations, and to observe how ono country, because of its superior natural advantages, is attracting thousands to its shores. We aro also able to determine whether the people of ono country is more industrious than another, or whether the fertility of the soil is greater in ono than it is elsowhero. Every industry' is carefullyscrutinised; tho material used, the wages paid and the accruing divisible profits aro all stated, so that tho statistician lias become an indispensable official in every' civilised community 1 . Having dealt with public matters, those of private concern absorb bis attention. Ho tolls us what wo consume to live, as well as the variety of diseases from which wo die. Nothing escapes him, and all tho intelligence ho presents, if properly applied, would help us i.ot only to conduct our public affairs with piyadcnco and success, but would stimulate us as private individuals to order our living according to tho dictates of common-sense.

It is with one article of our food supply and the magnitude of its consumption that wo would now particularly deal. Mr T. A. Coghlan, the statistician of the Commonwealth, has just issued the ninth edition of his statistical encyclopaedia of the seven colonics of Australasia, and the pages devoted to tho consumption of meat aro by no means the least interesting in an altogether interesting work. In countries whero meat is one of tho staple products, it is natural that the consumption of it should be large; still, in comparison with other countries, tho quantity of meat consumed by tho people beneath tho Southern Cross seems abnormally excessive. Lot us cite some of Mr Coghlan’s figures to illustrate this observation. The consumption of meat in Germany is sixty-four pounds weight per inhabitant per annum; in Great Britain it is 1091 b; in Australia it is 2641 b, and in Now Zealand our own “Year Book” sots down tho consumption of this commodity at 2331 b. In America, a meat-exporting country, tho consumption is little moro than half what it is with us. : If wo wore to judge of tho circumstances of a people by the quantity of meat consumed tho lot of Australasians is far moro tolerable than that ot most people; and if meat consumption is indicative of tho energy of a people, then tho inhabitants of the Commonwealth and of this country ought to ho tho most active and industrious on tho face of the earth. As, however, it is not always the fastest ships that burn most coal, so it is not always tho most industriousjpeople who consume tho most meat. Yet, on tho basis marked out for us by so eminent an authority as Dr. Edward Smith, F.R.S., the amount of thermo-dynamic power capable of being generated by the food consumed in New Zealand is only exceeded by that eaten in the much colder countries, Germany, Holland and Belgium ; and it would appear that when burnt in tho body the food of an average man is equal to 3300 foot tons (i.c., tons lifted ono foot) of work daily; of a woman 2200, and of a child 1100 foot tons. The average for Australasia is 2125 foot. tons per inhabitant, hut the daily food consumed by each individual in Now Zealand is equivalent to | not less than 4184 foot tons.

As the “full diet” cf meat is put down by medical authorities at 1801 b per adult per . annum, the question arises whether the people of New Zealand are not consuming too much meat. Allowing for a certain amount of waste, which is the usual accompaniment of prosperous times, it does seem as if our people eat meat in excessive quantities. A controversy on this point has been waging i n the Melbourne “Arrus,” and various medical men have entered tho lists in general denunciation of tho meat-eating propensities of tho people. Dr. John Williams, of Melbourne, declares that meat-eating among children forces their development at an undue pace, and tends to promote prematurity in both sexes. The general opinion among doctors is that the young eat too much meat, and that thoir being forced into men and women before their years is conducive to premature old age and decay. But excessive

meat-eating is not without its injurious effects upon men and women of mature age. Special diseases, we are told, are encouraged by a too free diet of meat , and according to one authority, arteriosclerosis, a diseased condition of the blood vessels and kidneys, which is practically ono of the forms of Bright’s disease, is a complaint- very largely produced by too much meat. Meat in excess, says another medical gentleman, promotes gout, it stimulates the heart, effects certain kidney and liver troubles, and by inducing the disease of the blood vessels mentioned, enfeebles the arteries and accelerates apoplexy late in life. Wo do net refer to e:;ce-sivc nmat-eating in the tones of the alarmist or in tho stylo of rdie prohibitionist or the aggressive vegetarian. .Ml men must discover tor themselves what suits them best and abide by it. The ‘‘roast beef cf Old England’’ must ever remain a favourite feature of the people’s diet ; but it ought to be observed that even in Great Britain they consume less than half of tho meat consumed by the people of this country. Tho statistician has shown us how wc live, and tho medical practitioner has demonstrated the results cf excess. Tho preacher counsels moderation in all things, and tho intelligent layman with no religious scruples asserts that tho practice of abstaining from meat ono day of tho week is a sound and wholesome one. With a cheaper and more plentiful supply of fish, less meat would bo consumed and tho general health of tho people would bo improved.- However, what persons eat is a matter of taste and constitution, as well as of habit, and omnivorous man can apparently adapt himself to circumstances and induce in any special form of diet, without racial or individual deterioration ensuing.