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
Kensington 1929
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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21
SCHOOL MEDICAL SERVICE.
Dr. Menzies, the County Medical Officer, has kindly made it possible for me to give the
following particulars of the routine medical examination of elementary school children carried out
in 1929 in Kensington.
TABLE SHOWING NUMBER EXAMINED AND DEFECTS FOUND
| Boys. | Girls. | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number examined | Entrants. 987 | Age 8. 859 | Age 12. 548 | Age 14. 659 | Entrants. 991 | Age 8. 889 | Age 12. 573 | Age 14. 719 | ||||||||
| Defect. | | Cases. | Cases referred for treat-ment. | Cases. | Cases referred fortreat-ment. | Cases. | Cases referred for treat-ment. | Cases. | Cases referred for treat-ment. | Cases. | Cases referred for treat-ment. | Cases. | Cases referred for treat-ment. | Cases. | Cases referred for treat-ment. | Cases. | Cases referred for treaT-ment. |
| Malnutrition | 4 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 2 | ... | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | ... | ... |
| Skin Disease | 23 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 17 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 9 |
| Defective Teeth | ... | 328 | ... | 307 | ... | 157 | ... | 176 | ... | 369 | ... | 283 | ... | 133 | ... | 175 |
| Enlarged Tonsils | 165 | 51 | 94 | 28 | 49 | 8 | 35 | 7 | 184 | 54 | 113 | 37 | 45 | l6 | 40 | 14 |
| Adenoids | 11 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Tonsils & Adenoids | 63 | 45 | 38 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 70 | 45 | 28 | 21 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | |
| Other Nose & Throal | 16 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Enlarged Glands | 161 | 21 | 120 | 13 | 48 | 3 | 37 | 2 | 153 | 17 | 102 | 23 | 50 | 8 | 34 | 3 |
| Eye Disease | 36 | 26 | 30 | 16 | 20 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 37 | 18 | 26 | 14 | 15 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| Defective Vision | ... | ... | ... | 88 | ... | 69 | ... | 80 | ... | ... | ... | 90 | ... | 74 | ... | 95 |
| Otorrhoea | 29 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 7 | 30 | 20 | 20 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 3 | |
| Other Ear Disease | 12 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Defective Hearing | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ... | 3 | ... | 1 | 1 | ... | ... | 2 | 1 | ... | |
| Speech Defects | 4 | ... | 3 | 1 | 1 | ... | 1 | ... | 3 | ... | 1 | 1 | ... | ... | 1 | 1 |
| Heart Defects | 48 | 3 | 39 | ... | 19 | 2 | 18 | 2 | 43 | 3 | 38 | 2 | 23 | 1 | 26 | 3 |
| Anaemia | 28 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 5 | 17 | 9 | ... | 17 | 5 | |
| Lung Defects | 49 | 31 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 34 | 21 | 1 7 | 13 | ... | ... | 4 | 3 |
| Nervous System | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 1 | ... | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Phthisis | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 1 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| Other Tubercular Dis-ease | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 1 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| Rickets | 9 | ... | 2 | ... | 2 | ... | 2 | ... | 5 | ... | 3 | 1 | 1 | ... | ... | ... |
| Spinal Deformities | ... | ... | 4 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 7 | ... | ... | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 | |
| Other Deformities | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ... | 8 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 6 | |
| Other Defects | 30 | 14 | 25 | 16 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 37 | 22 | 33 | 18 | 15 | 7 | 23 | 10 |
| Number of children noted for treatment | 471 | 433 | 242 | 262 | 487 | 422 | 224 | 295 | ||||||||
TABLE SHOWING THE CONDITIONS IN REGARD TO CLOTHING, NUTRITION, CLEANLINESS, TEETH AND VISION OF THE CHILDREN EXAMINED.
| Age Group. | Number examined. | Clothing and Boots. | Nutrition. | Cleanliness of Head. | Cleanliness of Body | Teeth. | Vision. | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good. | Fair. | Poor. | Good. | Average. | Below normal. | Bad. | Clean. | Nits | Pediculi, | Clean. | Dirty. | Pediculi. | All sound- | Less than 4 decayed. | Four or more decayed. | 6/6 in both eyes. | 6/9 in either or both eyes. | 6/12 or worse in either eye | ||
| Entrants | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Boys | 987 | 240 | 731 | 16 | 94 | 880 | 13 | - | 937 | 50 | ... | 929 | 57 | 1 | 531 | 322 | 134 | - | - | - |
| Girls | 991 | 282 | 704 | 5 | 103 | 862 | 25 | 1 | 935 | 50 | 6 | 949 | 41 | 1 | 519 | 341 | 131 | - | - | - |
| Age 8. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Boys | 859 | 271 | 574 | 14 | 70 | 768 | 21 | - | 821 | 33 | 5 | 816 | 43 | - | 490 | 272 | 97 | 477 | 209 | 146 |
| Girls | 889 | 311 | 574 | 4 | 94 | 778 | 17 | - | 843 | 36 | 10 | 870 | 19 | - | 546 | 242 | 101 | 532 | 203 | 135 |
| Age 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Boys | 548 | 192 | 350 | 6 | 55 | 478 | 15 | - | 535 | 11 | 2 | 522 | 26 | - | 362 | 169 | 17 | 353 | 97 | 93 |
| Girls | 573 | 172 | 398 | 3 | 82 | 483 | 8 | - | 533 | 32 | 8 | 547 | 26 | - | 410 | 149 | 14 | 348 | 117 | 106 |
| Age 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Boys | 659 | 202 | 448 | 9 | 110 | 533 | 16 | -__ | 644 | 14 | 1 | 621 | 38 | - | 457 | 175 | 27 | 416 | 109 | 127 |
| Girls | 719 | 257 | 459 | 3 | 122 | 584 | 13 | - | 684 | 30 | 5 | 701 | 18 | - | 520 | 179 | 20 | 424 | 145 | 148 |
| Total | 6,225 | 1,927 | 4,238 | 60 | 730 | 5,366 | 128 | 1 | 5,932 | 256 | 37 | 5,955 | 268 | 2 | 3,835 | 1,849 | 541 | 2,550 | 880 | 755 |
| Kensington percentages | 30.9 | 68.1 | 1.0 | 11.7 | 86.2 | 2.1 | 95.3 | 4.1 | 0.6 | 95.7 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 61.6 | 29.7 | 8.7 | 61.0 | 21.0 | 18.0 | ||
| London percentages | 57.8 | 41.3 | 0.9 | 19.7 | 75.5 | 4.8 | 94.4 | 5.1 | 0.5 | 97.4 | 2.5 | 0.1 | 64.8 | 27.5 | 7.7 | 56.3 | 25.5 | 18.2 | ||