TALKS ON HEALTH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 139, 13 June 1936, Page 3

TALKS ON HEALTH

(By A FAMILY DOCTOR).

'■ TRAINING FOR MOTHFRHOOD I This week I want to talk to (he ; young women; the gills between the ' ages of leaving school and gutt.iig mar ried. I want them to realise then own importance in the world, oouu they will have reached the age whei. they will t have husbands and homes of their own. These few years between senool and marriage are very precious. Much of the time must be spent ia the daily work, in earning a living. But I am • anxious to stir up the girls into thinki ing of the future, to arou.-e in them an intense desire to make themselves ’ lit for their future duties. Knowledge of mothercraft, of housekeeping, of cooking, and, above all, care of children will never come by instinct. All tins • knowledge must bo learnt Ly painstaking care. I spend my life in trying to prevent illness, and I want to have a* my allies in the fight all the young developing women who will shortly take their proud place as mothers of the sons of the Umpire. I wring my hands in sorrow at the ammjjt of avoidable illness, at the hundreds or deaths that need never have taken plave if only the mothers had had a bttle more training, a little more common sense, a little more knowledge. Before I was allowed to call myself a doctor I was compelled by the State to work for five years, and then to pass difficult examinations to test my fitness for my great responsibilities. And 1 am now appealing to my friends the young women to work in order that they may feel fit to shoulder their responsibililies. If I am t-o make any headway at all in preventing illness I must have the mothers on my side. Ignorance of Mothers The ignorance of the mothers of the present day is appalling. 1 should like every girl to join a continuation class in order to learn about the management of a home. Jt is altogether wrong to let people get ill first and then send for the doctor; the illness should be prevented in the first place. We write in our uopy-boolcs that prevention is better than cure, and now it is time to put the maxim into practice. What 'chance has a baby got who is wrongly clother, wrongly fed, badly cared for? If you listen you will hear the little voices of the children of the future calling out to you and asking vou to see that they are born healthy and strong. You ought to understand the all-iinpor-tant laws of nature. Ignoiauce is not innocence. The Way to Health 'The best nay to become a healthy women is to spend your g.rlhuod in acquiring a store of health. Cultivate a clean body and a clean mind. Be in the fresh air all you can, siecp with the witodow open, clean your teeth twice a day, and have the decayed ones stopped, keep your skin pure and healthy by frequent washing, see that your habits arc regular, go to bed in good time and eat your food slowly. If you wish to be beautiful remember that there is nothing so becoming as health. Fill your mind with useful knowledge; learn housekeeping, domestic economy, cook- 1 'ing and sewing. Make nice friends; beware of companionship with the thriftless and careless. When you have mental and physical health you will possess one of the most precious jewels ' in the world—self-respect A young ‘ woman who has gained the priceless treasure of self-respect will have done good not. only to herself, tut to all around her. Help Yourselves Now, young ladies, you urist realise that your health depends very largely on your own efforts; you are not to sit down and moan and groan because you are anaemic; you are to bestir yourselves, learn about health, and defy the demon of disease. Be a-, charming as you can; make the best of yourselves; you have a right io enjoy your youth. Develop all the go<.-d qualities within you to their utmosi limit, and eradicate the bad ones, an 1 when vou have made yourself a fine, healthy, blooming, flourishing, well-educated, sensible, laughing, happy girl, if you marry the wrong kind of man I may never forgive you. An Antidote for Grief Ihe best antidote for grief is work. The surest balm to an aciiiug heart is the feeling that useful work has been done; that, hard as is your own lot, you have saved someone a little pain by doing your bit. Grief is often seli fish, loud lamentations are sometimes j for the benefit of the neighbours. Keep your expressions of grief until you are by yourself; the public ought not to be allowed to intrude. We all feel that we should like to do something for the woman who is in menia' distress, but it may be more tactful to go and ask her to do something for veu It makes her stir herself, it is relief to turn a racked mind to somo other subject than the one of pain. Earlier to Bed If you want a good tonic try going to bed two hours earlier than is your usual habit for a fortnight. The extra rest, even if you do not actually sleep, will be very beneficial. It relaxes your nerves and your whole body to lie quiet on your back, and it aids your digestion to lie cjuiet so that you get all the goodness out of the fund you have swallowed. If you do manage to sleep the extra time it will do you a world of good. Sleep is the pancea for all evils. I ought to add that sleep should be natural; the sleep or stupor induced by powerful drugs is not so restful, and such a sleep may be followed bv a headache on waking. Also, many of the drugs used for sleeping draught'; are harmful in olher ways. Some weaken the nerves ; n the end. others upset the digestion. Tt is a real calamity when a patient, esi.ix’iallv if she happens to be a highly-strung woman, is framed to depend on drugs for sleep—her last «;tate i« worse than the first. A doctor knows when to order a soothing mixture, and ho exercises due discretion, hut the indiscriminate use nf soothing tabloids ought to I