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THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON
Telephones: WEStern 3173.
Public Health Department,
Hornton Street,
Kensington, W.8.
1st June, 1960.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Royal Borough of Kensington.
My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have much pleasure in presenting the Annual Report on the
state of the public health in Kensington for 1959• The Minister of
Health has again requested (Circular l/6o) that the Report should be
generally in the same form as has been the case for some years past.
The public health in Kensington during the year under review
was maintained at a satisfactory standard.
Population. The population of the borough as ascertained at
the Census in 1951 was 168,160: but for the purpose of this report,
the population for 1959 has been estimated by the Registrar-General to
be 166,500. The estimated population figure for the previous year was
165,700.
Birth Rate. The number of births per 1,000 population of the
borough was 18.1 in 1959, which compares with the figure of 18.0 for
the previous year.
Death Rate. The number of deaths per 1,000 population in
1959 was 9.93, slightly lower than the death rate for the previous
year (lO.l).
Area Comparability Factors for Birth and Death Rates. Comparisons
of crude birth and death rates between local areas are not strictly valid
since these rates take no account of the varying composition of the
populations of the different areas by sex and age.
In order to compare Kensington birth and death rates with
England and Wales as a whole, the Registrar-General has, in the case of
death rates since 1934 and in the case of birth rates since 1949, supplied
area comparability factors (A.C.Fs).
This is considered to be necessary as the proportion of old
people to young, and of males to females, varies considerably in different
districts. The local crude death rates are affected as the mortality
at the extremes of life is much greater than in the middle period, and at
practically all ages the mortality in females is rather less than in males
of corresponding ages. Similarly, so far as the local birth rates are
concerned, the child bearing component of the population varies in
different districts. In a borough such as Kensington, which has a
higher proportion of females amongst its inhabitants compared with most
other districts, the crude birth and death rates cannot be compared
satisfactorily with those of say an industrial district where the
proportion of males is much higher.
The Registrar-General has supplied, for use in Kensington
in 1959, the figures 0.72 for births and 1.01 for deaths. The crude
birth and death rates for the borough should be multiplied by the