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from the normal are especially noted in the girls' schools, in all of which are appointed
gymnastic mistresses, who pay special attention to the physique of individual
pupils, although it is probable, too, that the incidence of more serious deformities
is greater upon girl than boy pupils.
Our memories, statistics and photographic records which have been preserved
testify alike to the very great improvement which has taken place in the health,
physique and appearance of the London school child during the past 30 years, and
more particularly since 1907, when medical inspection of school children became
obligatory by the passing of the McKenna Act. Professor F. G. Parsons, F.R.C.S.,
in his presidential address at the Anthropological Section of the British Association
for the Advancement of Science, which met in Leeds in September, 1927, founded
many of his deductions upon the examinations made by him of the children in the
elementary and secondary schools of the London area. In the course of his address
he said:—
"That there is indeed much to show is clear enough to anyone who has walked
the streets of London or of any of our great cities for half a century with open eyes.
How seldom nowadays do we see the poor little half-starved bodies, so common
thirty years ago, shivering, coatless and bootless, in the depth of the winter ; their
miserable little limbs maimed by rickets, their ears streaming with matter from
middle-ear disease, and their eye-lids red with ophthalmia. We know, thank God,
that these are fast becoming things of the past; indeed the modern medical student
thinks himself lucky if he sees a single case of rickets, about which his text-book
has so much to say.
"Bad teeth, adenoids, septic tonsils and glands in the neck, unfortunately,
are still common enough, but slowly and surely these are being conquered, and are
bound to be swept away before long; for all this improvement is gathering speed
as it rolls on, and each year has rather more to show than that which went before.
"I have been visiting lately a number of London County Council schools in
order to see something of the physical characteristics of the rising generation, and
I find that, even in the poorest districts, the children are, upon the whole, cheerful
and fairly healthy, and a wonderful understanding exists between them and their
teachers, who as a class are far above the pedagogues under whom I sat as a boy;
while in the secondary schools, particularly in the healthier districts, such as Plumstead
and Eltham, the physical beauty and perfect health of the boys and girls contrast
very favourably with anything that our most expensive public schools have to show.
It is true that I am speaking from the examination of only five thousand out of more
than a million London children, and may have to modify my opinion as time goes on;
but what I have seen fills me with hope for the future, and never again shall I grudge
any taxes which I may be called upon to pay for education, since I realise that,
under the cloak of education London at least is doing its utmost to change a C.3
into an A.I population."
Medical inspection in 1927 reveals that the continuous struggle with the causes
of suffering amongst school children is having most hopeful results. Although the
incidence of dental decay is as wide as ever, the school dental service has succeeded
in averting the worst consequences to the great majority of the children during school
life.
In the " Michael Faraday " school, at which the first dental inspection was made
by Mr. C. E. Wallis, there were in 1906, amongst children aged eight to twelve,
95 per cent, with gross dental sepsis and neglect of oral hygiene. In this school
Dr. A. Livingston, in 1927, using the same standards and pursuing the same methods
as Mr. Wallis, found that these conditions were reduced to about 4 per cent, of the
children. This result, however, has only been obtained by the exercise of the most
strenuous efforts of the school medical service and the school care committees, with
great expenditure of time and money.
Summary of
the present
condition of
the children
as shown by
medical
inspection.