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In 1942, Mr Leslie Owen Bailey, a great
philanthropist and founder of the Natural Health Society of Australia,
accepted guardianship of 85 children whose mothers were unable to care for
them. Raised in accordance with Natural Health principles, and cared for in
the Hopewood House at Bowral,
NSW, they were to become well known as the Hopewood
children.
Many of these children were young babies, and because breast
feeding was not possible, they were reared on goats milk. The older
children were initially given unpasteurised cows
milk, but due to mucous problems in some children, fresh fruit and vegetable juices were substituted. From age two onwards, the diet of
these children consisted of fresh fruit, root and green vegetables, salad,
eggs, nuts, rice, porridge, wholemeal bread and biscuits, dried fruits, unsalted butter, lentils and soya beans etc. Between meals, only fruit or fruit juices were
allowed, and children were encouraged to drink plenty of water, which,
coming from the local water supply was pure and fluoride free. Treats
consisted of 'Hopewood lollies' made from carob,
coconut, dried fruits and honey.
The Child
Welfare Department, who were overseeing the children's
health insisted that the children be given 'meat', but when it was served
to the children, they refused to eat it. Nutritionists from the Sydney
University analysed the nutritional content of the Hopewood
diet and the results showed adequate, even superior levels of protein,
carbohydrate, fat and minerals in the food compared with orthodox diets.
After the results of these tests were made known, the Child Welfare Department no longer insisted that the children be fed meat.
It is noteworthy that amongst these 85 children, no serious
illness ever occurred, no operative treatments were ever performed, no
drugs of any kind were ever taken or used, and NO VACCINATIONS were ever
given. The only malady that occurred was when 34 of the children developed chicken pox. They were
immediately put to bed and given only pure water or fresh fruit juice. They all recovered quickly without after-effects.
Investigations revealed that these children whilst at school, had been
swapping their healthy
lunches for unhealthy conventional foods, so this outbreak was not
altogether surprising.
In 1947, Dr N.E. Goldsworthy, a medical doctor and head of
the Institute of Dental Research in Sydney, wanted to investigate the
dental health of the Hopewood children. Dr
Goldsworthy and his team conducted an extensive survey of the children's
teeth over a ten year period. This survey showed that the Hopewood children had 16 times less decay than other
Sydney children the same age. Where Sydney children had had on average 9.5
decayed, missing or filled teeth per child, there was only 0.58 in the Hopewood children. To use Dr Goldsworthy's own words,
the results were "little short of miraculous". The Hopewood children were credited with having the highest
standard of dental health ever studied, even surpassing New Guinea native
children who were supposed to have the best teeth in the world.
The Medical Profession also took an interest in the Hopewood children with Sir Lorimer
Dodds and Dr D. Clements, Head of Child Nutrition
at Sydney University, monitoring their health for over 9 years. They
examined both tonsils and
adenoids and said they had never seen a group so free of trouble as
the Hopewood children. Also, child psychologist,
Zoe Benjamin, an expert of the day, spent time with the Hopewood
children and expressed amazement at their independent personalities and
contentment as a group.
Most remarkable of all was the fact that many of these children
inherited poor health due to a history of illness and malnourishment in
their mothers. Despite this, and the fact that they were never breastfed
nor could enjoy the normal bonding of mother to child, they were able to
grow into sturdy, self-reliant children.
The Hopewood children serve as an
inspiring example for all those parents who would like to raise their
children naturally, and without drugs and vaccines. These children are
testimony to the truth and validity of Natural Health. The full story of the
Hopewood children appears in the Natural Health magazines, Volume 5, No's 3, 4, 5 and 6 and Volume 6, No 1, published
by the Natural Health Society of
Australia.
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