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the routine inspection with pulmonary tuberculosis, and a similar percentage with
other forms of tuberculosis. The exact figures being 161 with pulmonary and 133
with other forms. Tuberculosis is more frequently detected at special inspections.
Nervous
diseases.
Nervous diseases are also chiefly found at special inspections. In the age groups
epilepsy was noted in 130 children, including 53 entrant infants. Chorea in 187
children chiefly of the older ages, and paralysis in 178 children, including 92 entrants.
"Other" nervous diseases were detected in 1,122 children, including 478 entrants.
Deformities.
Rickets was found in 1,320 children, a considerable drop from the numbers in
1924 (1,786) and in 1923 (1,975). 816 cases were amongst the entrant infants, 553
(1.3 per cent.) were infant boys and 263 (0.6 per cent.) were infant girls.
Spinal deformities were noted in 1,144 children mainly in the 12-year-old group
and especially the girls of that group. 254 12-year-old boys (0.8 per cent.) and 440
girls (1.4 per cent.) were noted with spinal trouble.
Other deformities were noted in 1,462 children.
Special
inspections.
Very important is the provision for the inspection of ailing children coming
under the notice of teachers, care committee workers, school nurses or attendance
officers. 42,882 children not in the age groups were thus presented for detailed
examination; 1,077 were found suffering from malnutrition (2.5 per cent. as compared
with 0.7 per cent. in the age groups), 2,068 from skin diseases (4.8 per cent.
compared with 1.1 per cent. in the age groups), 1,820 with external eye disease (4.2
per cent. compared with 2.5 per cent. in the age groups), 2,128 from ear disease (4.9
per cent. compared with 2.6 per cent. in the age groups), 1,526 from heart trouble
(3.6 per cent. compared with 2.7 per cent. in the age groups) and 1,445 with non.
tuberculous lung trouble (3.4 per cent. compared with 3.5 per cent. in the age groups),
553 children were found at special inspections to be suffering from tuberculous disease
actual or suspected (1.3 per cent. compared with 0.1 per cent. in the age groups).
These figures show that the oversight of the children in the schools is such that
cases of failing health are quickly noticed and brought to the medical officer, and
they serve to explain the small numbers of children in the age groups found to be
suffering from tuberculosis or gross illness. This is of course as it should be, for it
would be intolerable if children remained in school suffering for two or three years
between one statutory medical inspection and the next.
The health
of the child
leaving
school.
During the second and third terms of the year an inspection was made of all
children due to leave school in the term following this medical examination. This
inspection is made with special reference to vocational guidance. The restoration
of this fourth age group to the inspection scheme gives an opportunity again to
deduce the full value of the care given to the healthy development of the child in
school and the results of the intensive following-up, which is customary in the last
two years of school life, are apparent. 20,451 boys and 20,560 girls were inspected.
In nutrition they proved markedly superior to any of the other age groups; 5.1
per cent. of the boys and 4.3 per cent. of the girls being recorded as poorly nourished
as against 6 per cent. in the total of children inspected, and 25.8 per cent. of the boys
and 29.5 per cent. of the girls above the average in nourishment as compared with
21.1 per cent. in the total of all age groups.
The cleanliness of the girls was still better than that of the 12-year-old girls,
87.5 per cent. being returned as satisfactory, as against 85.2 in the latter. The great
stride made in this respect in the last few years is illustrated by the fact that in 1921,
when the 14-year-old group was last inspected, the percentage of girls with satisfactory
cleanliness was only 77.7 per cent., so that there has been a betterment of 10 per
cent. in the four years. On the other hand, there is no improvement in the condition
of the teeth at 14 years as compared with that at 12 years, 28,435 children having
left school with sound teeth, or 69.3 per cent., the same proportion as at 12 years.
The vision of the leavers is markedly superior to that of any other age group, 62
per cent. of the boys and 57.9 per cent. of the girls passing the test as against 51.8
per cent. of children in the 8-year-old and 12-year-old groups combined.