London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1911
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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110
Annual Report of the London County Council, 1911.
There is much variation in these children partly due to their disease; for instance, one 12 year
old girl weighed 25.5 kilo., whilst her neighbour of the same age weighed 48.0 kilo. The normal for
their ages being 32.
The average weights were taken for children aged 9—13, of whom there was a full record, as below:—
| At 25th week. Age last birthday. | Sex. | Numbers analysed. | 1911. | 1912. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25th week. | 35th. | 45th. | 50th. | 5th. | 10th. | |||
| 9 | Boys | 11 | 2.40 | 23.78 | 25.16 | 25.52 | 25.88 | 26.08 |
| Girls | 6 | 21.93 | 22.30 | 23.50 | 23.82 | 23.73 | 23.95 | |
| 10 | Boys | 6 | 27.45 | 28.25 | 29.59 | 30.29 | 30.79 | 30.91 |
| Girls | 7 | 26.56 | 26.88 | 28.14 | 28.63 | 28.81 | 28.88 | |
| 11 | Boys | 6 | 28.35 | 29.51 | 30.06 | 30.40 | 31.11 | 31.41 |
| Girls | 7 | 27.93 | 28.74 | 29.90 | 30.21 | 30.74 | 31.16 | |
| 12 | Boys | 6 | 33.73 | 33.95 | 35.45 | 36.13 | 36.43 | 36.90 |
| Girls | 7 | 32.11 | 33.11 | 34.73 | 35.06 | 35.93 | 36.44 | |
| 13 | Boys | 4 | 28.00 | 28.65 | 30.32 | 30.60 | 31.47 | 31.62 |
| Girls | 2 | 28.80 | 29.40 | 31.45 | 31 .15 | 31.50 | 31.90 | |
| Totals | Boys | 33 | 27.47 | 28.08 | 29.39 | 29.82 | 30.32 | 30.57 |
| Girls | 29 | 27.42 | 28.06 | 29.42 | 29.74 | 30.13 | 30.44 | |
If the percentage rates of growth are calculated as weekly percentages for these periods they are very concordant throughout, as shown in the table:—
| Age at 25th week. | Sex. | 1911. | 1912. | Whole period 25th week to 59th week— 37 weeks. | Normal children 52 weeks (annual). | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25th to 35th week. | 35th to 45th. | 45th to 50th. | 50th to 57th. | 57th to 59th. | ||||
| 9 | Boys | .15 | .60 | .14 | .15 | .08 | .301 | .161 |
| Girls | .16 | .54 | .13 | .03 | .09 | .295 | .173 | |
| 10 | Boys | .29 | .55 | .15 | .17 | .05 | .304 | .161 |
| Girls | .12 | .47 | .17 | .06 | .03 | .295 | .165 | |
| 11 | Boys | .41 | .16 | .12 | .25 | .10 | .299 | .163 |
| Girls | .29 | .40 | .10 | .17 | .13 | .301 | .190 | |
| 12 | Boys | .05 | .46 | .20 | .08 | .12 | .295 | .161 |
| Girls | .31 | .48 | .09 | .24 | .14 | .305 | .221 | |
| 13 | Boys | .25 | .60 | .10 | .28 | .05 | .305 | .233 |
| Girls | .21 | .69 | .09 | .11 | .13 | .292 | .252 | |
| All the 62 | Boys | .22 | .47 | .28 | .24 | .16 | .300 | .170 |
| children | Girls | .23 | .48 | .22 | .19 | .20 | .300 | .192 |
Kensal House children, weekly percentage growth in weight for different periods 1911-12.
The last column for normal children in this table is from annual averages, and the group figures
in the bottom row are for the same age distribution of boys and girls as in the Kensal House total
figures. Since the above table was compiled the rate of growth from 10th to 14th week of 1912 for
the same boys and girls is .11 and .12 per cent respectively This means that in the 35th to 45th week
of last year these children put on weight of ten times the rate they have done (with increased feeding
at school) during March of this year. These figures for Kensal House-along with the facts given under
the open-air schools, demonstrate the existence of a seasonal variation in growth. This is of great
importance, and must be accurately determined for normal children by a careful special enquiry yet
to be made.
The establishment of this school at Kensal House has been the means of bringing to light a new
stratum among debilitated children, long suspected, but never definitely ascertained.
The battle with tubercle has to be gone through by everyone in the first few years of life. In a
community like London the maintenance of a high average of the public health actually depends on the