ABSURD PRACTICES.

Waipawa Mail, Volume LXVI, Issue 9, 4 October 1937, Page 1

ABSURD PRACTICES.

DOCTORS ON SUMMING HEALTH AND WELL-BEING. LONDON, September 8. At the British Association meeting, at Nottingham, Dr. H. E. Magee and Professor Winifred Cullis had something to say about slimming and anger at meal times. Dr. Magee expressed the view that the general teaching of physilogy would put an end to such “absurd practices” as slimming. “If the population,” he said, “was better informed on physiology and hygiene than at present, the elimination of many of the prevailing absurd practices, for example, in regard to solar radiation and slimming, might be anticipated with some confidence. The present enthusiasm for psysical culture and games was highly commendable, but it must be remembered that the mind and its facilities were of a superior order to the physical body and that character and grit were mental rather than bodily attributes. Dr. Winifred Callus, urging that physiology should have a place in general education, said that everyone should know something of this science for his own physical welfare and for the health and well-being of the community. “Quite often,” she remarked, “a physiological difficulty lies at the root of the psychological. A person suffering from indigestion has a much more gloomy outlook on life than one who has given his digestive processes a fair chance. It must he admitted, however, that mental processes may be the cause of what are generally regarded more definitely as physical processes. “Examination by X-ray after a meal will show complete cessation of movement if any strong emotion such as anger, pain, or extreme anxiety is aroused. That is why it is so important that if people must quarrel with their families they should not do it at meal times.”