PUBLIC OPINION

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21184, 6 August 1940, Page 7

PUBLIC OPINION

As expressed by correspondents whose letters are welcome, but for whose views we have no responsibility. Correspondents are requested to write in ink. It is essential that anonymous writers enclose their proper names as a guarantee of good faith. Unless this rule is complied with, their letters will not appear. GARDEN PLACE BUILDINGS (To the Editor) Sir, —Now that the scaffolding has been removed from the new post office, gardens have been laid out and new buildings are springing up on two sides of the square, Hamilton is beginning to realise,, what a fine asset to the town Garden Place may become. I know little of the cost or of the financial arrangements of the scheme, but I do know that if care is taken, Garden Place in years to come will be a very striking and prosperous centre. From experience of somewhat similar schemes elsewhere I am prompted to ask whether any restriction has been placed upon the buildings that are to be erected on Garden Place sites, or rather whether a standard has or will be set that will preserve the dignity and beauty of the square. Several of the structures already appearing are not unpleasing to the eye, but one wonders whether a high standard will be maintained. As an admirer of the square I hope the Borough Council will insist that all buildings erected shall be in keeping with the dignity and importance of the whole scheme.—l am, etc., CIVIS. Hamilton, August 5. THE FOOD WE EAT (To the Editor) Sir, —Permit me to thank those who have contributed to the discussion on nutrition in the Waikato Times. From their various points of view they have given something of real value to the public. Since we all have to eat to live, even if we do not Live to eat, anyone can see that we ought to eat intelligently at least. I nave little patience with the man who has allowed the subject of nutrition to become an obsession, but I have even less patience for the one who gorges himself unwisely from sheer lust for food and without regard for the consequences. Every medical man and every nutrition expert will agree that incalculable damage is done to the national health by ignorance of the subject of nutrition or of eating for the health’s sake. Consequently, for a wide variety of complaints the medical man will prescribe a diet. He does not do it for fun, nor is he guessing. He knows that the consumption of certain foods will have a certain reaction upon the physical condition of his patient. That is one argument in favour of the wisdom of eating wisely. Strangely enough, although we are indeed to a large extent “what we eat,” one supposes there is not another single subject upon which the average person has less scientific knowledge. Some, blessed with an iron digestion, can eat anything and everything and thrive on it. Others, less fortunate, ruin their lives because of their ignorance. They eat certain foods simply from force of habit—because their fathers and mothers before them for generations have done so. They have, perhaps, picked up through their own experience and the experience of their forefathers a rough working knowledge of the most dangerous of foods. They have, for instance, learned that certain substances are poisonous and therefore must not be eaten, but they have nothing like a tabulated schedule of the nutritional values of the various common items of their daily diet. The point I wish to make is that they should have such knowledge. I believe it to be the duty of a department of State to set to work and educate the public on the primary function of eating—not to turn the people into a nation of faddists and cranks but to guide them wisely in a matter which is of first-class importance. Medical examinations disclose that as a nation we are not as fit physically as we should be. Our teeth are in a deplorable state. Unless medical science has been on a false scent for hundreds of years, this condition can be improved by intelli- i gent attention to diet. Certain information is available from the health Department on the subject, but I think much more should be done. The policy of improving physical health should be administered much more aggressively and ignorance should no longer be an excuse for neglect. The individual can do a great deal by exercising his own common sense, but when soil deficiencies and scientific analysis for nutritional values enter so largely into the matter a wider system of research and the dissemination of information are necessary.—l am, etc., INTERESTED. Hamilton, August 5.