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.