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Adenoids and Enlarged Tonsils.—Out of 2,825 children
examined at the routine inspection 470 were found to have
adenoids or enlarged tonsils or both of these crippling conditions.
The presence of adenoids, a growth at the back of the nose,
causes a child slowly to become deaf. It grows to be stupid and
backward, because it cannot hear well; it breathes through its
mouth, which does not improve either its health or appearance;
and it is seriously handicapped in later life when it has to compete
with other and more intelligent adolescents in the labour
market. Enlarged tonsils are one of the most serious conditions
from which a child can suffer; those so afflicted are subject to
recurring sore throats, and they seem more likely to develop
infectious diseases than are other children. The microbes of
rheumatic fever and of consumption make their way into a child's
body through diseased tonsils.
Defective Hearing.—Sixty-one deaf or partially deaf children
were discovered during the year. Deafness is due in many cases
to the presence of adenoids; in others, to middle ear disease,
secondary to measles or to scarlet fever. A few cases of temporary
deafness were found to be caused by wax in the ears.
Inherited syphilis is a cause of deafness in children, and is more
difficult to treat successfully than the before-mentioned causes.
Defective Vision.—Out of 2,825 children examined at the
routine inspection, 250 were found to have defects of vision which
required treatment. Details of these children are given in
Table IV. B.
Other Eye Diseases.—Out of 2,825 children examined at the
routine inspection, 39 were found to be suffering from other
diseases of the eye or eyelids.
Dental Diseases.—At the routine inspection, out of 2,825
children examined, 1,8(58 were found to have good teeth, (581 to
have less than four bad teeth, and 276 to have more than four
bad teeth. The School Dental Surgeons in their careful examination
of children in the schools found that out of 5,249 children
examined no less than 3,202 needed treatment.