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
Heston and Isleworth 1910
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Heston and Isleworth]
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Clothing and Footgear.
Attention was paid to these in all cases. They were first
classified into clean and dirty, and afterwards sub-divided into
satisfactory, fair or poor according to the state of repair and
suitability as regards warmth and protection.
The following tables give the results:—
| Boys. | Girls. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entering. | Leaving. | Entering. | Leaving. | ||
| No. of observations | 400 | 181 | 403 | 126 | |
| Clean | Satisfactory repair | 339 | 170 | 370 | 114 |
| Fair repair | 34 | 6 | 25 | 11 | |
| Poor repair | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dirty | Satisfactory repair | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fair repair | 13 | 2 | 6 | 0 | |
| Poor repair | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Boys. | Girls. | ||||
| Entering. | Leaving. | Entering. | Leaving. | ||
| No. of observations | 400 | 181 | 403 | 126 | |
| Clean | Satisfactory repair | 357 | 169 | 356 | 112 |
| Fair repair | 19 | 9 | 32 | ||
| Poor repair | 10 | 3 | 9 | 5 | |
| Dirty | Satisfactory repair | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fair repair | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Poor repair | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
From the above tables it will be seen tnat the clothing of
117 children was not in a satisfactory state of repair, and the
footgear of 116 children was likewise unsatisfactory. Doubtless in
some cases this was due to poverty, but in a number of instances
parents do not put into action the principle contained in the old
adage that " a stitch in time saves nine." The tendency that
exists amongst a certain class of the population to allow children
to wear garments until they are dirty and torn, without washing
and repairing, afterwards replacing them by new, does not give
the children those object lessons in industry and thrift which
ought to be considered of primary importance.