YOUNG NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3833, 30 August 1927, Page 52

YOUNG NEW ZEALAND.

LAYING FOUNDATIONS OF HEALTH.

V ELLINGTON, August 25. In the opinion of Mr H. E. Longworth, director of physical training in schools, defects in the physique of New Zealand school children are on the decrease. Among the principal defects are obstructed breathing, stooped shoulders, spinal curvature, depressed ribs, and pigeon breast; and the fact that they were decreasing could be attributed to the efforts of the teachers, who themselves had undergone a course of physical training and were thus able to direct the physical development of their pupils along right lines. The Department of Education was to be commended on the attitude it had adopted in the interests of physical training in schools, continued Mr Longworth, and that this attitude was justified was shown by statistics compiled by the Health Department. These indicated, that in 1913, when organised physical training was first introduced, no less than 63 per cent, of New Zealand school children had postural physical defects, such as those mentioned above. According to the most recent report this figure had fallen to 20.3 per cent., a result which not only the Government but the parents and children of New Zealand must find exceedingly gratifying. Mr Longworth, who has been visiting the schools in the north, considers that these figures can and will be brought considerably lower. Progressive methods were being continually introduced, and next year the teachers of the Dominion would undergo a refresher course in this important department of their work. This General improvement in the physique of cur potential citizens was particularly important in the case of girls, who were the future mothers of the Dominion. Already since 1913 the average height of the New Zealand school girl had increased bv an inch and her weight proportionately, and it had been stated at the recent Medical Congress in Dunedin that the physique of the New Zealand school girls was superior to that of the girls in Australia, Great Britain, and Canada. Exercises, organised games, dancing, swimming, and sport in general were gradually producing their effect. The training commenced in the infant room and was continued throughout the school life of the child. This training, Mi Longworth considers, besides tending to improve the general physique of the nation will also prove a great economic saving, for a natural corollary to good health was increased efficiency and fewer hospitals.