London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Battersea 1902

Report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea for the year 1903

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"The infants have done well on the milk, with one or two
exceptions only, and in these cases enquiry showed that the
children had been over fed, or had such things as crust of
bread or mashed potatoes given them at too early an age."
"It was frequently in cases of rickets that I prescribed
your modified milk, and I know of no case in which its use
was other than most beneficial."
"It is an education for those who are entirely ignorant of
the proper feeding of infants. It is a diet which is at once
definite and complete, and a safeguard against the meddlesome
neighbour next door."
"I am of opinion that the milk has been the means of
saving the lives of a large number of hand-fed infants treated at
our dispensary suffering from wasting, rickets, and other
disorders brought on by improper feeding."
"In a great many cases it has, in my opinion, been the
means of saving the patient's life."
"In cases of rachitis I order it, and have found it
beneficial. In my own practice I have not had nearly the
number of cases of enteritis since the milk has been in use. It
is extremely rare in children fed on the milk, and then is due
to some extra food given without advice."
"I have every faith in its efficiency and nourishing power,
and invariably recommend it in cases of rickets and other
infantile diseases and conditions of ill-health. One of the finest
institutions that was ever established."
"Now and again I meet with a case where the milk
disagrees, but I have generally to blame the parents rather than
the milk."
"I think, generally speaking, the milk is a grand
innovation, and by far the best substitute for mother's milk."
"I always recommend the milk and endeavour to induce
patients to obtain it, and have observed most satisfactory
results after its use."
Two medical men have given evidence of their confidence
in the milk by feeding their own children upon it for nine and
twelve months respectively. The results were excellent, as
appears below:—