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70
These figures are particularly instructive as they
represent the only systematic health stocktaking which
is carried out in the borough for a complete section
of the population. A large number of babies are seen
at the Welfare Centres but there is no law to require
all of them to be taken there and the inspection of
" toddlers " has not reached a sufficiently large proportion
of them to enable us to claim that our data
is fully representative. Over school age there is no
regular medical inspection and such data even as is
available from the medical examination of sick persons
under the health insurance scheme is not available to
me. The facts elicited at the medical inspection of
school children are therefore of great value in estimating
the physical condition and tendencies of at any
rate one substantial section of the population.
Last year's inspections reveal further deterioration
in nutrition, the percentage marked "good " falling
from 10.3 to 9.8, compared with the average for London
of 20.5. With regard to soundness of teeth and vision,
Bethnal Green children are below the London average.
Once again I draw attention to the ironic fact that in
Bethnal Green where a considerable amount of clothing
is made and which is one of the centres of the boot
and shoe trade, only 12.3% of the children are well
clothed and shod compared with 53.9% in London as
a whole. This is a deterioration since last year when
the Bethnal Green percentage was 19.9.
On the other hand, I am glad once more to pay
tribute to the housewives of Bethnal Green with
regard to their care for the cleanliness of their children.
Having regard to the housing accommodation, lack of
bath rooms or hot water supply and privacy, it is
remarkable that Bethnal Green children should have
the high distinction of 99% clean in the head and
99.5% clean in the body, particularly as these figures
are actually higher than the averages for London of
96.9% and 98.9% respectively. Such facts should
help to refute the reference, still occasionally heard,
to the alleged " dirty habits of the poor," and indicate