TALKS ON HEALTH

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17349, 14 May 1924, Page 13

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR.

HOME DISCIPLINE. I hear that home discipline is almost non-existent to-day. It may be only a rumour. They saj r that it is no good mothers talking to their daughters to-day, because the daughters knowbest—or think they do. No modern boy has the smallest respect for his father. Why should he, when his father is actually thirty-five or even forty, and therefore in his second childhood? T must confess I am oldfashioned enough to deplore the decline of home discipline. There were so.me grandmothers in the old days. We loved them and they loved us, and they did us good. Ido not know what would happen to-day if a mere mother suggested to her fifteen-years-old daughter that it would- bo wiser to go to bed earlier. I suppose the girl would order her mother out of the house until she apologised. When I was young I was content to go to a circus or a pantomie once or twice n year. Nowadays it is the “ pictures ” every night. I suppose it is time I shut up shop and retired to my old corner with the dust slowly settling on my venerable but no longer respected head.

THE CIGARETTE HABIT. And those everlasting cigarettes of the young man ! Oh, the anaemic young man of to-day 1 I really must crawl out of my corner to have my say. They look half baked—and they say to each other that what they want to put new; life into themselves is a iolly good packet of fags. Their Jungs are filled with cigarette smoke, their blood is diluted with cigarette smoke, their so-called brains are fuddled with smoke. I cannot agree that these young people have a better time thar. we used to. The modern young people- are bored to death before they nrc out of. their teens. Oh. dear ! And yet I love the young people. I do not believe they will make such tough middle-aged folk as we did ; they will crumple up at about forty. But J do want them to be happy. T do not want to interfere with their pleasures. I only want them to realise that health should com© first—not only for their own sakes, but because they have to hand on the golden gift of health to the coming .generation. Please do not look so anaemic, . young people. You could raise the standard of your health if you tried. Date nights sap your energy. Your brains need more sleep. Do not rob them of their just due. One day you will have to pay the price, and headaches and ill-health are a dreadful price to pay for the pleasure of dances. Be ifeasonablc: do not work your tired nerves to death. Rosy cheeks are so much prettier than pale ones, and dark circles under the eyes are not becoming.

THE “ HORRIBLE EXAMPLE.'’ It is said that some temperance • lecturers take a man round wjth them who is exposed as a “ horrible example.” Eirst of all the lecturer advertises for a man. who is to have his travelling expenses.- board and- lodging free on condition that he imbibes all the beer .whisky and rum be can stow away without being too overcome to appear on the stage. Having selected one out of the ten thousand applicants, bo starts off. I, too, want a horrible example of neglected obstruction of the nose. I, too. could find ten thousand applicants auite easily. The poor man would be deaf from neglected adenoids in boyhood. He would have a narrow pigeon chest because ho had r.ever been able to take a deep breath. He would be pale because his bloodjJid not get aeriated i»i his cramped lungs. He would very likely have consumption. He would be out of work because no one wants a weakly worker who is> always away with colas. And all that misery would- take its origin from a nose obstructed by deformity, by injury, or bv tumour. Never

marry a man with a stuffy nose. My love must have a clear, clear nose. SPRING CLEANING FOR CHILDREN. It is not a bad plan to carry out process of spring cleaning out to its logical conclusion, and examine the children to see if they need any renovation. Will the mothers oblige me by looking at the backs of their own offspring. The mother should sit with her back to the window. The child should be stripped and stand with her back to her mother. Of course, the child must stand straight like a soldier at attention. Any child can produce u curvature of the spine by going down at one side and leaning over. I Heels together and shoulders held * lightly in the natural position. Now, j then—are the two sides of the body • exactly alike? Take a piece of string with a weight attached to it and hold one end against the bump in the middle of the back of the head. Let the weight hang down. and the string should cover the spine all the way down. If it does not cover it, the spine is curved to one side. Now look at tho shoulder blades. They ought to lie flat on the bark and each should be like th© other. If a curvature is present, one shoulder blade seems to stick out : it stands away from the body instead of lying flat like the other. This occurs because a curved spine is also a twisted spine. There are, of courso, natural curves in the spin©:no one has a spine as straight as a poker. The spinal column is made of a number of bines piled on top of one another and held together by hands or ligaments. The spine is curved back i wards in the region of the chest to ' give more accommodation to the lungs and heart. And another curve backwards occurs in the pelvis to give more room for the important organs in that region. These two backward curves i are balanced by two forward curves in the neck and in the loin. Looked at from the side the spine is wavy. If the right hand and arm are used very much more than the left, there is a tendency for the spin© to be pulled over to the right on the level of the arm.- This does no harm so long ,as \ it is not developed to excess. WHAT CHILDREN SHOULD BE TAUGHT. .Growing girls should be taught to 1 exercise their left arms to overcome the pull of the right arm. When the good mother has examined the girl in the standing position the child should bend forward and touch her toes. This brings into prominence the little lumps that are to be seen all down the spine. They should be in a straight line. If there is any doubt, a small spot of ink may be placed on each lump. Then with the child upright, the plumb-liqe may be used again. The mother mav discover a departure from the straight, anti she will then ask the doctor to have a look at her daughter. He will tell the mother to give the girl certain exorcises calculated to correct the curve. He will order rest and exercise in alternate hours, beginning with gentle exercises and gradually increasing them. He will give instructions about the diet, ordering milk and cream and brown bread and fresh fruit and less tea. He will insist on the window being kept open at night. He will encourage the girl to go away to stav with the kind auntie who has n house at the seaside, and will be only too pleased to take on the jon of caving for her niece. In a year the curve will have gone. And it will all be done by auntie’s kindness.