PHYSICAL HEALTH STANDARD

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21244, 15 October 1940, Page 4

PHYSICAL HEALTH STANDARD

Because about 50 per cent, of the men called up in the first military ballot have failed to meet the requirements of the medical boards there has been considerable uneasiness and disappointment in the community. It is too soon yet, however, to say that the physical standard of New Zealand’s manhood has deteriorated. More extensive analysis of the figures is necessary before a useful verdict can be given. The results do, however, contain the clear inference that there is room for vast improvement in the nation’s physical health. Many of the defects which have debarred young men from military service might have been avoided. Probably the great, majority of them are due to some form of negligence rather than to heredity. In other words, if health education, practice and service were perfected, many thousands of young men who are now classed as unfit would have passed the medical examination without difficulty. Certainly many of them may not be seriously handicapped in their civilian avocations, but the sum total of their lost efficiency and enjoyment of life generally is such as to warrant a more serious national effort in the future.

New Zealand perhaps does not compare unfavourably with other countries in this respect, but the Dominion has so many national advantages that it should certainly set a higher standard. It is a strange fact that although physical health is one of the most important facts of an individual life there is a remarkable disinclination to realise it and act upon the knowledge. The average human being subjects his body to the most callous ill-treatment as though it were a matter of no concern. Defects that could be eliminated are often allowed to develop, just as though a man could purchase a new body when the old one is worn out or broken down. There is urgent need for the planting of health consciousness in the minds particularly of the children. Apathy of the individual rather than the lack of knowledge or the lack of service is the greatest enemy to public health and physical efficiency.