View report page

5
Effects of the War on the Physical and Mental Welfare
of the School Children.
Of the many surprises which the war has furnished, none is
more remarkable than the absence of any disturbance of health,
mental or physical, amongst the children.
The standards of nutrition and cleanliness have never been
so high, and there is, so far as I have been able to observe, a
total absence of any adverse influence on the children's nerves.
Indeed, one can, in perfect truth, go further, and say that there
has been a decided reduction in the number of highly-strung,
nervous and difficult children. How can these unexpected results
be explained?
Nutrition.
Amongst 2,008 children medically inspected, 30 were found
"slightly sub-normal " in nutrition, and there were none in which
the nutrition could be described as "bad." The "slightly subnormal
' group represents 1.5 per cent, of the children examined,
as against 4 per cent, in 1937, 5 per cent, in 1938 and 6 per cent,
in 1939. This splendid result is due to the extension of the
milk in schools scheme to afternoon milk for those children in
need of it, in addition to the morning milk, in which the great
majority of the children participate. The more that preaching
the gospel of good food is translated into the practice of this
gospel, the higher will be the generai standards of nutrition,
growth, health, vigour, spirits and resistance to infectious disease
in the child population. A second factor is the longer rest in
bed imposed by the black-out and sheltering from bombs during
the winter months.
Cleanliness.
The standards of cleanliness, clothing and footgear are all
satisfactory in the great majority of the children. The troublesome
families are few in number, well known to teaching, medical
and nursing staffs, and constantly being followed up.
The only condition which has shown an increase in incidence
is scabies a skin infestation by the itch-mite, which is transmitted
by personal contact. The increase is not entirely due to