Physical Disabilities

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21822, 27 November 1940, Page 4

Physical Disabilities

APINIONS recently expressed by a Wellington " medical man as a result of his experience in examining recruits for the Army are ’disturbing. He asks why the physical standard is so low in a country well favoured by Nature, and that question demands an answer. He suggests that the low standard revealed may be due to malnutrition during the “depression” years or to the fact that New Zealanders have “grown soft.” The doctor gives them the benefit of the doubt, but is clearly not completely satisfied by so doing. Physical types in New Zealand show an astonishing variety, and the disabilities discovered by examination spring from a number of causes. There are those who are physically unfit for reasons utterly beyond their own control, but there are thousands who could have been better men physically and mentally but for that “softness” which the medical man suspects. Their training has been too careless and they have not the spiritual strength to make the best of their opportunities for physical development. Habits of sloth are allowed to grow until, after a few years, the result is that a very poor specimen parades before the medical examiner. The fact that these disabilities are disclosed only on compulsory medical examination is in itself significant. Why were not the weaknesses discovered before and some attempt made to remedy them? There is no stronger argument in favour of regular medical examination of the whole population with a view to disclosing the state and trend of public health. Clear recognition of an undesirable condition of affairs means real progress towards a remedy. Without periodical overhauls weaknesses might easily develop among people who have not sufficient interest in their own physical welfare to make the best of their opportunities. The matter is of prime importance to the future of the race and demands the attention of individuals as well as of the Government authorities.