View report page

— 7 —
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE FACTS DISCLOSED
BY MEDICAL INSPECTION.
Malnutrition.—Out of 2,825 children examined at the
Routine Inspection during the year, 281 were found to be suffering
from malnutrition.
The chief causes of malnutrition are (1) lack of sufficient
food; (2) improper and indigestible food; (3) unsuitable home
conditions; (4) excessive employment out of school hours; (5) illness
and disease. The seeds of disease flourish most readily in
an ill-nourished body; and, since we are concerned to check the
beginnings of illness, it is especially desirable to deal with all
children who show sign of malnutrition. In the opinion of the
School Medical Officer few, if any, of these cases were due to
an absolute lack of sufficient food; they could be attributed
rather to parental sloth, to improper diet, to an absence of fresh
air and sunlight, to shortened hours of sleep, and to a lack of
domestic economy. The feeding of elementary school children
by the Borough would not be likely to remedy any of these unhygienic
circumstances in the houses of the children.
Clothing and Footwear.—Out of 2,825 children examined at
the routine inspection during the year, 64 were found to have
defective clothing and 80 to have defective foot-gear. It must
be remembered, however, that the clothes seen by the medical
officers at these routine inspections are not always representative
of the children's everyday clothing. Often enough they are specially
dressed and particularly cleansed for the inspection.
Unclcanliness.—Out of 2,825 children examined, 204 were
found to be unclean at the time of the routine inspection. Four
children had live lice in their heads, and 2 on their bodies; 107
others had nits (or the eggs of lice) and 91 were found to be fleabitten.
During the year, as the result of class-to-class inspection,
the school nurses have discovered 1,162 other children who were
unclean. The louse is slowly being eradicated from the schools;
but the above figures show that much work still remains to be
done.