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
City of Westminster 1914
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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Creches.—There were two of these—one in Kingsway, just outside
the City boundary, the other in Pimlico, but this has now been
discontinued.
Verminous children are cleansed at the Council's Station, those
attending schools being paid for by the County Council as Education
Authority.
Medical Inspection of Children under School Age.—The North
Centre completed its third year and the South Centre its second year of
existence and both have had their resources taxed by the number of
children brought for advice. At the former 1,124 attendances were
recorded, at the latter. 1.226. 875 attended for the first time.
At the North Centre Dr. Forsyth reports that in 319 children under 5 years of age defects were found in 208, and were chiefly:—
| Age of Child | 0—1 | 1—2 | 2—3 | 3—4 | 4—5 |
| Nos. examined | 201 | 47 | 33 | 20 | 18 |
| Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | Per cent. | |
| Decayed teeth | — | — | 12.1 | 50.0 | 61.1 |
| Enlarged tonsils | — | 6.4 | 27.3 | 20.0 | 44.4 |
| Adenoids | — | 12.8 | 27.3 | 35.0 | 55.5 |
| Rickets | 0.5 | 23.4 | 6.0 | — | — |
| Diet modified | 17.9 | 6.4 | — | — | — |
"These figures, disclosing so plainly the progressive deterioration of
physique in each successive year, substantially confirm the results
tabulated and commented on in previous reports. But in two respects
they seem to show the first gleam of brighter conditions of health
among the children of the neighbourhood. In the first place, the
number of infants found to be improperly fed at the time when they
came under supervision fell last year to less than one-third the figure
for the previous year. Second, and in keeping with this, the prevalence
of rickets among those under one year was very considerably less this
year than last. Granting the unwisdom, until we have the figures for
the coming year, of claiming these improvements as solely or even
mainly the outcome of the educational work of the Centre, nevertheless
it is under these two headings that the earliest indications of a higher
standard of " mother-craft" are likely to be seen; and the figures at
any rate encourage the hope that the beneficial effects of the Centre
may be apparent even sooner than might be expected.
"Apart from the preventive work of the Centre—and this, of course,
still remains its essential function—no small account of curative hospital
treatment has been obtained for its small patients. Inclusive of
cases new and old, some 238 defects have been thus remedied, many of
them requiring treatment by surgical operation; and here again, the