OUR BABIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23591, 30 August 1938, Page 19

OUR BABIES

Bj Htoeia.

Published under lh« auspices of the Koval New Zealand Society for the Health of Women and Children (Plunket Society) ■ U (a toieer to pul up a fence at the top of a precipice than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom." THE IMPORTANCE OF POSTURE Throughout childhood, health and growth go on together, and if .parents desire a healthy body for their child, they must never relax their vigilant care. Many parents know —to their very literal cost—how expensive the correction of physical defects may be. Remedial exercise for round shoulders, flat feet, and many other forms of incorrect posture, not to mention the correction of crooked teeth and omer dental deformities are a long and slow cure, expensive in time as well as in hard cash. Most of these defects need never occur if only parents understood that the body must be built rightly and used rightly. .. For correct building of the body the child must have sunshine, fresh air day and night, and a good diet that includes foods to build bone and muscle (milk, butter, fresh fruit, green vegetables, wholemeal grains, bggs and meat in moderation). Right use of the body implies the following:— Regular habits, good exercise, sufficient rest and sleep, watchful care to prevent cramping from any cause or the adoption of any sort of abnormal or onesided position. FAULTY POSITIONS

From the beginning, faulty positions must be watched for and guarded against. The rapidly growing baby frame is soft and pliable to a degree, and 11 as a twig is bent, the tree grows. The cot and pram must be long enough to allow the child to stretch right out. The mattress must be firm without any sag. An old mattress sagging in the middle is a very bad bed for any child. Avoid old soft kapoc or feather mattresses, they tend to produce wrong positions during sleep and are enervating. A good hair mattress is best. If kapoc or flock is used, the mattress should be full and well studded. For babies and young children a loose shakedown of winnowmgs of chan placed on top, of a firm mattress makes a soft, warm, and healthy bed; but the essential thing to remember is that the firm studded mattress underneath gives the firmness necessary for the young body during the hours of sleep and rest. ' , . . . Pillows are unnecessary for babies or any small children. High pillows are definitely injurious and produce very bad posture, round shoulders, and narrow chests. If a pillow is used at all it should be very thin and small. Visualise the natural position of the child’s body at rest —the spine flat and the head on a level with the trunk. Children naturally tend to sleep lying almost chest downward with the head turned to one side and the knees drawn up. This makes any tendency to rounding of the shoulders impqssible during sleep. High pillows and soft beds prevent the adoption of this natural position.

Carrying books to and from school may be a cause of bad posture. Weight carrying is bad for growing children, and should be avoided as far as possible. The satchel with a single shoulder strap usually begins the bad habit of raising one shoulder to keep the strap hitched up. The satchel with alternative shoulder straps such as hikers use. tends to act as a corrective and can be used by the child who walks or rides to school. If a dispatch case is used the child must be taught to use alternative arms for carrying it.

Watch that the child walks and stands correctly. When the weight is on the balls and outer sides of the feet, the toes point straight forward, and the inner sides of the feet are parallel with each other. Wearing the proper kinds of shoes, and keeping the feet parallel and pointing forward will help to throw the weight correctly, but much depends on the strength of certain leg muscles that hold the feet in the proper position. With toes pointing outward, the ankles may turn inwards and the long arch of the foot become flattened, throwing the body out of balance. The muscles, that keep the feet in good position are specially strengthened by skipping, running, dancing, and walking on tiptoe—forms of exercise in which parents will ,be wise to encourage the child. Chairs, desks, and tables used by children

for any length of time must be adapted • to their size. Most schools are quite i up to date in equipment nowadays, but parents have every right to enquire into the matter. Half an hour daily spent lying on the floor with relaxed muscles ■ ~(not an arched back) is good to correct any tendency to round shoulders. If some one can read aloud, this la an excellent way of spending a rest period, even for perfectly well set up children. Avoid encouraging # young babies to sit up or feel their feet before they are ready, and especially when vigorously trying to do so alone. We are fortunate that in this country we have toddlers’ or older children’s clinics in several of our big centres. Where there are no special clinics mothers can take their toddlers to any Plunket nurse, who will weigh and measure the children and advise the mothers about diet and hygiene. The nurse takes notes of the child’s general appearance and state of its teeth, and if it appears below par or has any defects that should be corrected, advises the mother to take the child to a doctor. Thus any departure from the normal should be recognised at an early stage and corrective measures applied, so preventing ill-health and unnecessary suffering in later life.