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67
school children are kept under annual inspection and treatment of dental conditions
by qualified dentists a recent special investigation shows that six months subsequently
to the final treatment when the mouth has been put in perfect order, new points of
caries will have arisen in a considerable number.
Enlarged
tonsils and
adenoid
growths.
In the statutory age groups 13,212 children were m 1929 referred for treatment
for enlarged tonsils and adenoid growths. This number forms 7 per cent. of those
examined and is greater in proportion than in the previous year when the figure was
6.5 per cent. This increase is disconcerting seeing that instructed public opinion will
no longer tolerate the older methods of dealing with these conditions, and demands
that the children operated upon shall be treated as in-patients instead of being
operated on in out-patient departments which was the earlier practice. For this
reason a very great strain has been placed upon the remedial facilities which no longer
suffice for the needs of the county. The entrant infants provide by far the greatest
quota of children referred for operation for unhealthy throat conditions, viz., 10.6
per cent. of entrant boys and 9.3 per cent. of entrant girls, compared with 5.9 per
cent. of 8 year old boys and girls and 3.4 per cent. of 12 year old boys and 3.9 per
cent. of 12 year old girls.
Otorrhœa
and hardness
of hearing.
In 1929, otorrhœa (running ears) was found in 1,930 children, or 1.0 per cent. This
is a slightly lower percentage than in recent years as the percentage in 1928 was 1.1
per cent. and in 1927, 1.3 per cent. Here again the entrant infants contributed a
higher proportion than the older age groups. Defects of hearing were reported in
696 children, or 0.4 per cent., compared with 803 in 1928 and 868 in 1927.
While otorrhœa tends to become less frequent as the children pass upwards
through the school, defect of hearing which is commonly a permanent result of
otorrhoea tends to increase. While the number of children found with defective
hearing at the older ages is only slightly increased, the study of individual cases shows
that often a very marked increase in the severity of hardness of hearing in the
individual takes place. This happens generally about the 12th to 13th years.
Defect of
vision.
47.8 per cent. of boys and 49.5 per cent. of girls in the 8 year old group failed to
pass the vision test in 1929. In 1926 the figures were 51.9 per cent. and 54.7 per cent.
respectively, in 1927 they were 51.1 per cent. and 52.9 per cent., and in 1928, 466 per
cent. of boys and 48.9 per cent. of girls. At age 12, of boys 40.7 per cent. and
of girls 44.3 per cent. failed to pass the vision test in 1929, compared with 41.2 per
cent. of boys and 44.9 per cent. of girls in 1928.
The greater incidence of visual defect upon girls is always apparent. Formerly
it was thought that this was due to the greater use made by girls of their eyes in such
tasks as sewing, but the recent researches made by the school medical service go to
show that this influence is probably less than was estimated and that differences in the
developmental history of the eyes in the two sexes are a greater factor. Although
practically one half of the children are unable to pass the vision test, less alarm may be
felt on this score if it be considered that much of the defect in young children is purely
developmental and tends to be corrected as growth proceeds. In many also the
defect in the vision is but slight.
Heart trouble
and anæmia.
Heart detect (functional or organic) was reported m children 2.2 per cent.
of those inspected, which is the identical percentage shown in the previous year.
Older girls continue to present signs of heart strain in excess of older boys (2.9 per
cent. as compared with 2.1 per cent.).
It was formerly the custom to term "functional" all heart defect which was not
accompanied by the signs of valvular lesion. It is now, however, better understood
that there are defects of the heart muscle (myocarditis, etc.), in earlier years placed
in the "functional" class, which are every whit as "organic" as valvular
lesions, and even more attention is paid to hearts which betray the symptoms and
signs of muscular trouble than to those with well compensated valvular defect.
Anaemia was recorded in 2,628 children or 1.4 per cent. only There has been a