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

Tottenham 1941

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Tottenham]

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2
In addition to routine medical inspections, rapid
medical surveys of school children have been continued by
the medical and nursing staffs, with particular regard to the
state of nu-trition and the cleanliness of the children
concerned. As in previous years, those children found
to be of sub-standard nutrition were referred to the Nutrition
Clinic and given supplementary cod liver oil, iron, etc.
according to their needs, and thus lifted to higher
nutritional grades.
Nutrition - School Meals, etc.
The School Medical Officers are provided with many
opportunities at the routine and special medical inspections
of forming an opinion of the general effect of the war on
the physical and mental welfare of the children. On the
whole it can be said that the health of the children has
been well maintained. As far as can be ascertained
very few children show signs of any physical or mental
deterioration as the result of war conditions, and in
a great number of cases the physical and nutritional
standard has been found to be much improved. This is
probably largely due to the special facilities provided
for the provision of school meals at the meals centres and
for the supply of milk in school (especially now that,
bj local arrangement, the milk is delivered at the schools
by 9.30 a.m., thus ensuring that appetites have returned
in time for the midday meal).

Table: Provision of Solid Meals,During the year the new scheme for the Provision of School Meals, referred to in last year's Report - i.e. on a sliding scale of payment, not exceeding 4d per meal -continued with ever increasing success, as proved by the following table, in which the daily average is shown month by month.

Provision of Solid Meals,

During the year the new scheme for the Provision of School Meals, referred to in last year's Report - i.e. on a sliding scale of payment, not exceeding 4d per meal -continued with ever increasing success, as proved by the following table, in which the daily average is shown month by month.

Month.Free.On Payment.
January.2881904.
February.327.1975 .
March.372.1996.
April.403.1992.
May.357.2071.
June.413.2233.
July.420.2228.
august.420.2055.*
September.441.2068.*
October.464.2147.
November.460.2294.
December.445.2464.

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Months during which school holidays occurred.
At the end of the year, according to figures prepared
by the Board of Education, Tottenham had a larger proportion
of school children receiving a daily hot meal in school than
any other area in the country.
An interesting development was the introduction,
jointly with the School Meals Schemd, of the British Restaurants,
which, in conjunction with the Ministry of Pood, was
undertaken, at the request of the Council, by the Education
Committee under a scheme prepared and controlled by the
Director of Education. The already existing organisation
and equipment of the School Meals Scheme made possible
this expansion to the larger purposes of general Community
Feeding, and the successful association of the preparation
of meals for adults with that of meals for children.