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nourishment is rare—rather do we suffer from malnutrition as
a result of faulty diets. Scientific investigation has revealed that
obesity in early life tends to produce increases in 'fat' cells which
dieting in later life may well empty but will not eliminate. A subsequent
relaxation of a regimen recharges these cells and obesity
is perpetuated.
If there is an understanding of food values and a realisation of
the necessity for balanced diets from infancy, then prevention will
be a practical proposition. Failing this, a fully satisfying adult
existence could be marred by an unavoidable choice between the
threat of premature degenerative disease or a lifetime of controlled
food intake.
Respiratory Diseases
Respiratory illness spans a wide clinical spectrum affecting all
ages and ranges from the common cold at one extreme to lung
cancer at the other.
With the measure of control of pulmonary tuberculosis obtained
in recent years by chemotherapy has come an assumption by
many that the menace of respiratory disease has been eliminated.
Nothing is further from the truth. It is undeniable that nearly
one fifth of all deaths in England result from respiratory disease
with bronchitis, pneumonia and lung cancer accounting for
approximately ⅓rd each of the total.
It is equally indisputable that the latest annual National Insurance
statistics show that new spells of certified incapacity from
diseases of the respiratory system during the year amounted to
4,827,000, equivalent to 45.5% of the total from all causes. Of
the country's total certified incapacity, namely, 342 million days,
some 92.6 millions or 27% was attributable to respiratory disease.
Average length of incapacity for males per person at risk from
these disabilities was 5.03 days, 28.7% of the total from all
causes, whilst the figures for females were 3.73 and 20.7% respectively.
However, National Insurance statistics concern new
cases only and, therefore, do not reflect long-term sickness, a
great deal of which concerns respiratory disability. Moreover,
these figures relate only to persons insured for sickness—the
children, the aged, the non-employed and "exempt" married
women are not included.
Even this lamentable tale is not the whole story. Respiratory
disease places a substantial burden on the general practitioner
and hospital services; on the one hand it is the commonest reason
for consultation, 26 per 1,000 patients per year and, on the other,