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
London County Council 1902
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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expectation of life at birth than the average unit of the male population of Hampstead shows
the different degree to which causes of mortality, which must be regarded as more or less preventible,
operate among the two populations selected.
The following table (IV.) shows the number surviving at certain ages out of 100,000 born
in Hampstead and in Southwark according to the mortality experience of the four years 1897-1900.
| Age. | Males. | Females. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampstead. 1x | Southwark. 1x | Hampstead. 1x | Southwark. 1x | |
| 0 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 |
| 5 | 81,147 | 67,374 | 84,029 | 70,945 |
| 15 | 79,182 | 64,677 | 82,076 | 68,142 |
| 25 | 77,251 | 61,551 | 81,107 | 65,500 |
| 35 | 74,025 | 56,160 | 78,955 | 60,877 |
| 45 | 67,627 | 47,039 | 75,053 | 52,727 |
| 55 | 57,893 | 35,337 | 67,052 | 42,033 |
| 65 | 42,208 | 21,843 | 54,650 | 29,412 |
| 75 | 23,226 | 9,441 | 34,300 | 14,598 |
This table shows that the average unit in Southwark begins life under more adverse conditions
than the average unit in Hampstead, but whether those who survive the greater risks to
infant life which obtain in Southwark are still subject at the later ages to conditions which are
more adverse to longevity, will be better seen on reference to the following table (V.), which shows
the numbers surviving given age-periods out of 1,000 entering them ; by this method of comparison,
the effect of a high infant mortality on the total survivors at any age out of a given
number born is eliminated, and the effects of the conditions affecting longevity obtaining for
particular age-periods can be more clearly appreciated.
| Age-period. | Males. | Females. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hampstead. | Southwark. | Hampstead. | Southwark. | |
| 0—5 | 811 | 674 | 840 | 709 |
| 5—15 | 976 | 960 | 977 | 960 |
| 15—25 | 976 | 952 | 988 | 961 |
| 25—45 | 875 | 764 | 925 | 805 |
| 45—65 | 624 | 464 | 728 | 558 |
The conditions which adversely affect longevity in Southwark are, therefore, operative at
each age-period shown in the table, although the effect of these conditions varies with the ageperiod.
Thus, comparing males in the two communities, out of 1,000 born in Southwark, 326 die
before reaching five years of age, while in Hampstead, out of 1,000 born, only 189 die before
reaching the age of five years. Again, out of 1,000 children aged five in Southwark, 40 die before
reaching the age of 15, while in Hampstead the corresponding number is 24. At ages 25-45,
when probably, so far as the community is concerned, the economic value of life is at a maximum,
the differences in the two communities is most marked. Thus, of 1,000 males aged 25 living in
Southwark, 236 die before reaching the age of 45 years, while the corresponding figure for
Hampstead is only 125.
Another interesting comparison between the two districts which can be instituted from
the material supplied by the life table is that shown in the following table (VI.). This table shows
how much of the total expectation of life at birth is lived in infancy, in the school-age period of
life, in the working-period of life, and in the period of decline. The age groups which approximately
represent these periods of life are shown in the first column of the table.