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51
HEALTH EDUCATION
Child health was the theme of the Health Department exhibition at
the Civic Delegate Conference this year. The exhibit commenced with
ante-natal care, progressed through the infant and toddler stages, finishing
with the school health services, and focused on the importance of complete
health as a contribution to the happy family unit.
There is no doubt that with the services available the health of the
nation's children should be of a very high standard, and it can be said
that Harrow compares very favourably with the rest of the country in
this respect.
It is a function of health education not only to provide information,
but also to persuade people to take positive action on the advice given,
as in the case of vaccination and immunisation which have achieved
spectacular results in the reduction of infectious disease as a major
hazard, both in incidence and mortality. A child under five now has more
chance of dying from an accident in the home than from infectious
disease. Again the decline in infant mortality, an unsung drama of modern
medicine, has contributed to the increase in life expectancy—it is not only
that we are living longer compared with a century ago, but that more
people are surviving their childhood years and living to maturity.
The school child and young mother are priority targets in health
education and more of the health visitor's time is being spent on this
group. More expectant mothers took advantage of the mothercraft and
relaxation classes available at the clinics in 1969. These included the
theory and practical aspects of ante-natal and infant care and were
supplemented by film evenings on childbirth for expectant mothers and
their husbands, which were generally well supported. The husbands also
had their own fathercraft classes, where the acquisition of such basic
skills as "nappy" changing, bathing and preparing baby's feed enable
them to give support to their wives.
It is not however every parent who is as well informed as the young
mother of to-day, a fact revealed at those parent/teacher associations
addressed by members of the staff on the subject of sex education in
schools, and at which some parents suggested that they did not feel
qualified to instruct their children, and even admitted that they themselves
had learned from the films previewed at these meetings, an indication
that there are still a number of half truths, some amusing, some sad,
prevailing when it comes to the workings of the human body. Sex
education is still a controversial subject and, whilst few parents opted
their children out of lectures, some had reservations as to content and
timing. Yet, if children are to be informed in advance of their bodily
changes during puberty, then with early maturity this subject must surely
be approached in primary schools, and an increasing number of head
teachers are taking advantage of the courses on personal health available
from Health Department personnel.