Rickets

A hard-hitting WWII Food Flash warning about the dangers of rickets - and how to avoid them

Food Flashes - snappy propaganda shorts informing viewers about food and health issues - were a staple of the wartime cinema programme and the Ministry of Food produced over 230 of them. This example deploys shock tactics to drive home the message that a cure for rickets, a bone disease that affects children, is readily available in the form of a bottle of cod liver oil.

The challenge was to get children to drink the dastardly, vile tasting stuff to counter the Vitamin D deficiency associated with rickets.