TALKS ON HEALTH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19532, 13 March 1926, Page 8 (Supplement)

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR i

THE ANAEMIC GIRL. Anaemia can be cured with time, patience, and perseverance. The rules must never be broken—neglect of one I important regulation may nullify all the trouble that has been taken. Early ! to bed is to come first. It is a peculiar tiling about the. anaemic girl that she hates getting up in the r.iorning, as she feels sleepy and heavy, as though the night’s rest had done her no good, and when night comes she begins to wake up and feel lively. The anaemic always comes down last to breakfast and is generally the life and soul of the dance at night. But that excitement at nighf is not wholesome. If the anaemia is to be cured the body must have a good rest, and someone in authority (if anyone ever can succeed in being in authority over a girl of eighteen ) must state a time when the bedroom must be exchanged for the sitting room. Food And Drink. Good blood can only be mi-de out of good food. Here is another difficulty. Anaemic girls suffer from constipation; constipation results in a furred tongue and loss of appetite; and loss of appetite promotes anaemia again. So there is a vicious circle, and it takes a bold effort to break it. There is no need to draw up a diet chart, because all good food may be taken. Broth, soup, fish, meat, vegetables, puddings, fruit (fresh or stewed), and, in a word, any goo-1 food that is in season. The only points that,, need emphasising are commonsense ones. For instance, breakfast should be a proper meal, not a hastily gobbled mouthful washed down with tea. Pickles, ketchup, sauces, and vinegar are forbidden. Tea only once a day, and then it must be fresh, and plenty of milk anti sugar taken with it. Cocoa made with milk is the best thing for anaemic girls in the winter time. Alilk and eggs are very nourishing; porridge with milk and sugar is recommended. Water is a drink that is not sufficiently valued. It is cheap; it is always in the house; it is pleasant to take —you need not hold your nose and shut your eyes when you drink a glass of water —and, lastly, it is an excellent antidote for constipation. You cannot drink too muchj water; you need not be afraid that .it will go to your head. Bound up with a question of good food is the subject of good teeth. Go to the dentist to curcj anaemia. Bad teeth mean bad blood, i

Fresh Air. When you take a breath of fresh air it goes straight down to the blood. The lungs are the organs used to introduce the oxygen from the air into the blood. The fresher the aii> the better can the blood do its work. Take no end of thought and pains to obtain fresh air. It is largely a question of habit. If once you get used to sleeping with the window open, you will feel stifled if it is closed. And when I say open, I mean open—not just a millionth of an inch at the top. If you are cold, knit yourself some bedsocks, ,wear a woolly vest under your nightdress, and put something extra on the bed. Borrow your mother’s sealskin coat if necessary’ but sleep with your window wide open. I am going to teach you to love fresh air if I die in the attempt. Outdoor Clothing. When you go home from the office, ride outside of an omnibus. Do not go inside to breathe the influenza germs from many other stuffy people. When preparing to go home, you will please clothe yourself properly. First of all, you take off the slippers you have worn while tripping about, the office and put on the stout boots with good soles that you came up in in ths morning. Then you put on your warm gaiters that were given you as a birthday present by > Percy. When two men arc paying you attentions, do not give your heart l< the one who presents the brooch to you with “I love you” on it. No; marry the man who prefers to spend his money on sensible gaiters, and write and tell him that the heart beating beneath the gaiters will always be true to him. Well, then, your feet being protected against cold and wet, you gracefully put your arms through the warm waistcoat with sleeves that your mother made for you. The office is stuffy and hot, and the air outside is nearly freezing, and the waistcoat is just the thing. Dear old mother! Then your mackintosh, your scarf, and your gloves, and you are ready to go to the North Pole, or, at any rate, to ride on the outside of the tram and escape the germ-trap inside. The Cheaper Way. And now I invite you to look at the girl next to you. She has a thin blouse open at the neck, four brooches which do not help to keep the east wind out, and ridiculous shoes with brown-paper soles. 1 know you arc going to tell me that warm clothes cost money. To that I reply that it is cheaper to have good boots, gaiters, and a rain-proof coat and good health than to have brown-paper boots, four brooches, and pneumonia. Have I convinced you? What The Doctor Orders. You must not take anv medicine or

pills except what the doctor orders. And do remember that no drug can possibly help you unless you lead a sensible life. Y ou are such foolish girls that I sometimes despair of you. You will not obey the ordinary rules of hygiene, and you expect to get well on pills alone. The

great thing is to bear in mind that anaemia is curable. You are nnt allowed to sit down and say you suppose you will always have, it —but you will not cure the complaint without care and judgment and perseverance, and the judicious expenditure of a little money.