MILK FOR SCHOOLS

Taranaki Daily News, 12 September 1935, Page 3

MILK FOR SCHOOLS

NATIONAL BASIS SUGGESTED. ' LOW ANNUAL CONSUMPTION. ' By Telegraph—Press Association. Hamilton, Sept 10. Speaking at the Rotary Forum at Hamilton Dr. H. Bertram (Rotorua) said that existing milk conditions were sometimes shocking. “They are things to be ashamed of,” he said; “Some of the farms from which our milk supply originates should be prohibited. We must give pure milk.” A resolution was carried expressing the opinion that a scheme of milk in schools should be instituted on a national basis throughout New Zealand. The Government was urged to support the scheme, as it was considered that expenditure on a milk ration would be well rewarded by the savings that would result in the upkeep of the Dominion’s hospitals. Dr. Garfield Stewart said it was surprising to realise that in New Zealand the annual consumption of milk was only about 28 gallons per head per year, compared with 56 gallons in the United States and 66 gallons in Denmark. The demand was a third of what it ought to be. He felt convinced that if each child were to receive a pint of milk per day many of the disabilities of crippled children would be eliminated. Extensive experiments carried out in England and th® United States had shown that the nutriment of milk was not affected by pasteurisation and the digestibility of milk was considerably increased. Dr. H. Bertram said that on account of the full and mixed diet of New Zealanders milk did not play such an important part as in other countries, but it was unquestionably essential for children. One reason for the fact that there were under-nourished young people in New Zealand was that there was an insufficient supply of milk. How could a man earning £2 or £3 a week feed, clothe and house his family? There was, of course, also the question of insufficient knowledge, which should be met by the education of those mothers who fed children with all sorts of “muck.” At the Rotorua High School during the winter pupils were given _ a daily cup of hot milk, a scheme which had a marked effect. _ A great number of crippled children would not have been affected had they received a more adequate supply of milk or purer milk. Many crippled children were tubercular. What did £75,000 mean if the building .up of a healthy, virile people was to be the result.