A squatter's rights
Toilet postures across time and
culture have hidden health implications. Is it better to perch comfortably on
the Western throne, or is it time to go back to the good old squatting?
Much of our age-related back problems
can be blamed on the fact that man was meant to be on all fours. You can look
at it as the price we pay for being bipedal or standing up.
Women give birth lying down, but
this posture, too, has been questioned. In fact, history suggests that in the
era Before Christ, women gave birth standing, sitting, or kneeling. A famous
drawing from Egypt depicts Cleopatra kneeling to give birth. The birthing chair
dates back to 2000 BC and a 1961 survey tell us that giving while birth lying
down was the norm only in 18 per cent of cultures. Labouring upright has been
quoted to have various advantages efficient contractions, shorter labour,
less maternal pain and less application of forceps. It is also claimed that the
baby has better oxygenation because the great veins and aorta are not
compressed by the uterus in the standing position.Not a great degree of medical
literature exist on the issues, and the national institute for health care
excellence in the UK recommends that women should be discouraged from lying
down in the second stage of labour, instead adopting any other position they
find comfortable. It is the obstetricians who find the lying-down posture most
suitable, as it is easier to inspect and monitor the delivery.
As human beings evolved, the species
made choices that suited its purpose and comfort, not necessarily the best
choice. The same applies to the evolution of toilet postures over the ages. The
'60s fad of Western commode-style toilets arrived to stay; now you can see such
toilets in the houses of most Western-educated people. Such a style does
provide a great deal of comfort, perhaps even too much of it. Naturally,
questions have been raised time and again about whether this is the ideal
position to defecate.
I have lived with a great number of
roommates and thankfully, all had excellent sanitary habits. Some spent their
time reading, some doo dled on their phones, some brooded over generous cups of
coffee. One roommate, however, preferred to spend his time studying in the
toilet. I often joked that he should carry a commode to the examination hall
for better performance.
It is known that the Swiss are often
unimpressed with the toilet habits of Southeast Asians and those from the
Middle East. It upsets them that people would chose to squat on toilet seats
and dispose toilet papers in places other than the toilet bowl. I am always a
little amused by pictorial signs warning “No squatting on toilet seats.“
The Indian style toilet is prevalent
not only in Asia, Africa and the Middle East but also in South America. I
recall a Hinglish movie: a Western executive arrives in Delhi; on the way to
his hotel the taxi driver suggests a different hotel, and offers him a
road-side sherbet; with his bowels acting up, the poor chap has to run to the
hotel toilet, where he stares at the curious hole in the ground with
understandable bewilderment.
It also amazes me how the average
Indian manages to squat for long hours, waiting for nature's call. Many
villagers are actually happier to squat than sit on a chair. Truth is, the
squatting position helps one do their business without wasting much time. It is
often said that sitting is an unnatural position to pass stool. This may be
correct in the sense that animals defecate easily while squatting as it
provides a natural passage to bowel contents devoid of any major kinks.
An April 1979 issue of the Israel
Journal of Medical Science claims that the prevalence of bowel disease such a
haemorrhoids, appendicitis, polyps and diverticulitis and ulcerative colitis
are commonest with those using western toilets, as compared to those who squat.
It seems ironic, in that light, that certain Eastern countries like Thailand
should replace their original toilet habits with the ubiquitous Western
thrones. In Japan though, you not only have a sit-down toilet, but also a
massager and the automatic bidet, a fancy clean-up gadget.
It is true that the squatting method
provides better passageway for easy defecation. A host of bowel ailments
including piles and constipation could be linked to the habit of using sit-down
toilets. In her best-seller Charming Bowels, German microbiologist Giulia
Enders has praised the squatting position for defecation. The addition of a
small stool is now being suggested to convert the western style toilet to a
squatting-position one. Ah well, there you go, we have always been slaves to
comfort, above anything else.
Although a lack of concrete medical
literature on the subject leaves us free to use logic in choosing our preferred
toilet method, it certainly looks like it is time to go back to some old school
squatting.
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ALTAF PATEL
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MM14JUL15
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