MANY UNDERNOURISHED

Taranaki Daily News, 22 June 1935, Page 9

MANY UNDERNOURISHED

CHILDREN IN CANTERBURY

21 PER CENT. INSUFFICIENTLY CLAD

EDUCATION BOARD DISCUSSION.

EXTENSIVE PUBLIC WORKS ASKED.

By Telegraph—Press Association. Christchurch, June 21.

A position which he considered must cause grave concern to members of the board was outlined by the chairman of the Canterbury Education Board at a meeting this morning when he reported visiting five schools in the Christchurch district and discovering that the total number of children _ whose fathers were unemployed was 886. _ At these five schools there were 255 children suffering from malnutrition and 618 were insufficiently clad. The percentage of children who were not getting sufficient food based on the average attendance at the five schools was 8j per cent On the same basis 21 per cent, were insufficiently clad. , Mr. Thompson emphasised that- anything he might say was not actuated by political motives but because of the lowered vitality caused by insufficient feeding. The children could not absorb knowledge as they should, . R On Mr. Thompson’s motion the board unanimously decided to write to the Cabinet urging the Government to place in hand , extensive public works of such magnitude that it would be possible to employ all employable unemployed at standard fates of pay. After hearing other details of poverty the board also decided to urge the Minis-ter-of Education that means be taken to alleviatei'the condition of children in primary schools. .

STATISTICS COMPARED

INCREASE LAST YEAR SLIGHT.

PHYSCHOLOGICAL FACTOR SEEN.

... Wellington, Last Night. . Malnutrition among school children in New Zealand last year showed a slight increase, 5.64 P®r cent, as against 5.48 per cent in- 1933. That portion is disclosed by figures compiled by the director of the division of school hygiene. It is explained that a slight rise .is very largely Wto the fact that the proportion of children included from the primer classes, which as a general rule show «a slightly higher . peiventage of malnutrition, is greater than in 1933. “While taking the Dominion as a-.whole the percentage of children found to be suffering from malnutrition shows no noteworthy increase, special groups of the community demand:further consideration,” states the director. “Children inhabiting the poorer, crowded quarters of cities show a lack of vitality, and ah? serice of resistance to disease, necessitating remedial measures. In rural districts constant outdoor toil is often demanded from all members of the household, including the mother, and, as a result, meals are irregularly prepared and hours of sleep inadequate. “Where there have been years of struggle and anxiety the psychological factor has to be considered, especially in those families,- the scale of. livtog of /which is monotonous and restricted to the barely adequate. “School medical officers report that a gradual and steady towering of. the Standard of clothing and personal care is in evidence among certain sections of the people in some areas. ■ “Records kept over a period of years ghow that in 1928 the percentage of malnutrition noted in routine examination of school children throughout New Zealand was'6.B, in 1929 7.06, in 1930 6.30, m 1931 6.68, in 1932 5.81, in 1933 5.48 and in 1934 5.64?