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66
out of doors as much as possible. The work of the Centres is
bound to be incomplete and the results as expressed in terms of the
physical welfare of the younger generation, unsatisfactory, unless
provision of this kind is made where the recommendations of the
medical staff of the Centres can be carried out properly.
That such an institution is a necessary part of the work is more
than borne out in my opinion by the following returns, viz.:—
(1) An analysis of nearly 30,000 birth and death returns,
covering the years 1908 to 1917, shows:—
(a) That under one year the infant mortality averages
88 deaths per 1,000 births, and
(b) That between the years of one and two there are
19 deaths per 1,000 births.
In comparison it should be noted that the general
death rate in Croydon runs from 10 to 12 per
1,000 population.
(2) An analysis of the condition of 490 children seen at one
of the Centres shows that 195 or 39 per cent. of these were
defective in one or more respects. Approximately 1,400
children were examined at the Centres in the Borough
during the last financial year, which gives an estimated
total of 546 of these children defective in one or more
respects.

These figures include defects of clothing, dirtiness, and
verminous conditions, but excluding these the following
percentage of actual physical defects in the child is
obtained, viz.:—
Age 5—6 years 56 per cent.
Age 6—7 years 58 per cent.
These physical defects have arisen in the children during
their infantile and pre-school years.
(4) In my report for 1914 on Infant Mortality it was shown
that infantile deaths were due to dietetic and co-related
conditions to the extent of 42.4 per cent. These are
especially conditions which can effectively be dealt with
in such an institution as that under consideration.