A healthy mind in a healthy body.

An article this morning on radio 4 entitled ‘Three ages of Child’ (click link to hear; https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002krl7) raised a few unpalatable truths about decisions that our elected politicians have made over the last two decades and the development potential of our children.

1.       Since austerity measures were imposed in 2008 the average height of a child has reduced and an adolescent is now, on aerage, 7cm shorter than a child born in the Netherlands.

2.       In 2025, over 4.5m children are living in poverty and unable to thrive because parents can’t afford to both heat their homes and feed their children.

Professor Sir Michael Marmot raised issues about health inequalities challenging the government’s plans for addressing the challenges to the physical and mental health of our children, which reminded me of the mantra of my headline and how what is preached rarely gets practiced.

At the age of 14, without any consultation, I was shipped from the cosy, nomadic life of an army brat with a strong circle of friends in Germany to an English boarding school, in Brighton, where, ‘A heathy mind in a healthy body’ along with the school motto ‘Absque labore nihil’ (Nothing without labour) were constantly thrown at us boarders or ‘inmates’ by the predominantly ex-military school masters ( it was only 25 years after the end of WW2 after all and the expression 'I've killed people for less than that' was often used).

There is an element of truth in the suggestion that a grammar school education, in what should really have been described as a boot camp, was the making of me, however, it wasn’t until I left this school for a further education college (in Edinburgh) did I realise just what education was for; what I had learned over 5 years was how to hide in plain sight, how to game a system and how to cope with being hungry (we were always hungry and always on the lookout for a quick fix).

So, it was a relief to be allowed through the grant system of the 1970’s to study Architecture in an Art College in Dundee and be in control of both my own intellectual development and my diet. My exposure to a vast array of people with a balanced view of both helped me right what had become skewed and I am thankful for their input to the real making of me, however, it is clear that despite the benefits that a fully funded education system has had on our current crop of politicians, they seem to be ignoring the perils of extended austerity and have done little to nothing to make the required changes. Ignoring these perils will not only affect the health of millions but in years to follow these health inequalities will also impact the economy that will continue to ‘fail to thrive’, possibly until there is a crisis and, no longer able to blame migrants, we elect politicians that will tax appropriately, as if our children’s future is of value.

Footnote.

I thought it might be interesting to outline exactly what we were confronted with while at Boarding school and why were always hungry.

below: Marshall House: where I lived for 5 years.Not exactly Hogwarts.

All meals would be announced by a 5-minute warning bell and then the actual bell would sound, where we would be required to queue up outside the dining room before the house master in charge that day opened the door.

During all meals jackets and ties had to be worn even if you had been involved in games in the gym or sports field. Weekly, during dinner, hair would be inspected to decide if it was too long in which case you had to see the barber later that evening. As a consequence, dinner on that day was a rushed affair which meant that there was always a lot of dinner left over.

All mains were served in large heavily bashed rectangular aluminium bowls and doled out by someone from a year above who sat at the head of the table. Side dishes were also in metal bowls and jugs but were passed around.  Each table accommodated three boys on each side on a long bench. The server would sit on a chair.

The only exception to this was the upper sixth forms table where everyone was a prefect and everyone had a chair.

Breakfast. This was served with breakfast cereal and milk, tea and with toast: regulars included 

Tinned tomato and juice on fried bread

Boiled eggs (soft or hard boiled) or Scrambled eggs (always watery, so much so that the egg leached water )

Baked Beans on fried bread

Tinned Spaghetti.

Fish fingers (the ones with black bits)

At 11 am break there would be a rush to the dining room where toast that had not been eaten from breakfast would be piled up on a shelf

Lunch. This was always served with jugs of water and comprised a main and a desert.

Mains were:

Chicken supreme and rice: we could not eat this after watching the Ken Russel film ’ The Devils’

Roast lamb slices, mashed potatoes and cabbage with gravy: totally awful,

Chicken pie mashed potatoes and cabbage or carrots with gravy,

Spam fritters with mashed potatoes; sometimes mash was replaced with Roast potatoes,

Mince and onion stew with mashed potatoes and cabbage/carrots with gravy (sometimes assembled as a cottage pie as an alternative).

Below; The delight that was a spam fritter.

Deserts:

Steam pudding and custard; varied between jam, treacle or currant (roly-poly pudding) all from a long tin so that the tins reinforcement ridges could still be seen

Whipped egg white and sugar with custard,

Apple pie and custard: a favourite,

Seasonal Fruit salad: during summer we would sometimes help by going to a pick your own farm to pick strawberries or blackberries.

(There must have been more but they must have been so bad that I can’t remember them)

Dinner (Tea as it was called) and was always served with large pots of tea.

Cheese on toast with an orange and a penguin biscuit,

Tinned Spaghetti on toast: no one liked this so there was always loads to eat that evening,

Poached egg on toast.

(There must have been more but they must have been so bad that I can’t remember them)