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rapid decline during the last few years in children suffering from anaemia. In 1926
the figure was 24 per cent., in 1927, 2 per cent., and in 1928, 1.7 per cent.
It may be fairly claimed that this is one of the results of the campaign fo. the
establishment of open-air conditions inside and outside the schools.
Defects of
the lungs.
Lung defects were reported in 4,603 children being 2.4 per cent. Here again there
has been a steady decline each year since 1926 when 3.4 per cent. was reported.
Lung complaints, mainly bronchitic in character, continue to be much heavier in
their incidence upon the entrant infants than upon the older children.
Tuberculosis.
Fewer children in the age groups this year were found to suffer from tuberculosis
in any form than ever before. Pulmonary tuberculosis, definite or suspected, was
reported in only 70 children in the age groups and other forms of tuberculosis in 73
children. All forms of tuberculosis together, therefore, fall far below the proportion
of one in a thousand.
Nervous
diseases.
Epilepsy was noted in 73 (97) children, chorea in 178 (204) and paralysis in 122
(144). (The figures for 1928 are shown in brackets). In all three conditions there
was a distinct drop this year in incidence, including chorea which in the previous year
showed an increase in the number of cases.
Rickets.
Rickety deformities were noted in 1,097 children (0.6 per cent.), mainly younger
entrants, the entrant boys shewing twice as much rickety deformity as the entrant
girls, (1.2 per cent. compared with 0.6 per cent.).
Other
deformities.
Deformities from other causes were noted in 2,245 children (1.2 per cent.),
again an improvement as compared with previous years. 711 of them had spinal
deformities, the older girls contributing a quota (230) nearly twice as high as any
other group.
The condition
of the entrant
infants.
Although the infants are found to be well nourished on entering the schools and
compare favourably with other groups both in this respect and in that of personal
hygiene, they present already a very high degree of decay of the deciduous teeth;
46.7 per cent of boys and 47.7 per cent. of girls have already dental decay while
15.7 per cent. have serious dental decay compared with 7.4 per cent. of the 8 year old
group, and only 2 per cent. of the 12 year old group: 10.6 per cent. of entrant boys
and 9.3 per cent. of entrant girls are referred for treatment for enlarged tonsils and
adenoid growths compared with 5.9 per cent. of children at age 8 and much lower
percentages at the later ages.
Other conditions in which the entrant infants suffer to a much greater degree
than the older children are otorrhcea, lung troubles, external eye disease, and of
course, rickety deformities.
The health of
the leaving
child.
The Council has instituted a fourth age group examination which takes place
in the term prior to that in which the children are due to leave school. The results
of this inspection are available at the after-care conference and are of assistance in
the choice of occupation. This examination is also valuable as it gives a final
verdict upon the net result of the work of the school medical service.
The leaving children examined numbered 28,574 boys and 28,555 girls. Again
the leavers were found better nourished than any other group, only 3.9 per cent.
of boys and 3.3 per cent. of girls being returned as under-nourished compared with
6 per cent. of 12-year-old boys and 4.9 per cent. of 12-year-old girls.
The highest standard of personal hygiene was also found in this group, 93.6
per cent. of the girls and 97.3 per cent. of the boys being found scrupulously clean
at medical examination.
The dental condition of the leaver girls was rather worse than that of the 12year-old
girls, only 73.3 per cent. being free from caries compared with 75.6 in 12year-old
girls. This points to the necessity generally of carrying on dental inspection
in the schools beyond the 11-year-old age group where at present it stops.
Visual acuity greatly improves between ages 12 and 14, especially in girls, 60.1
per cent. of whom passed the vision test as compared with 55.7 of 12-year-old girls.
(If the pupil possesses spectacles the visual acuity is tested with the spectacles on.)