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 1932
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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55
Physical
defects.
| Defect. | Boys. | Per cent. | Girls. | Per cent. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | - | |||
| — | - | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
| — | — | |||
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| — | — | |||
The general physique and state of nutrition of the delinquents compares unfavourably with
the figures for London as a whole. Dental disease and nasal obstruction were more apparent
and evidence of past rickets was about thirty times higher than that for the ordinary elementary
school population. On the other hand the frequency of disease of the heart and lungs was low.
Taken as a whole, the London delinquent child is below the average of the county as a whole,
but out-county delinquents were noted to have more defects than those living within the county.
Retardation.
The subjoined table is compiled from the records of 1,019 children whose complete records
were available. It has been assumed that the educational ability and general intelligence reaches
its maximum average at the age of 14.
Retardation.
Mental age.
Calculation age.
Reading age.
Number.
Percentage.
Number.
Percentage.
Number.
Percentage.
Up to or over testing
age
1 year retarded
2 years „ ,,
3 ,, ,,
4 „ ,,
5 „ ,,
6 ,, „
301
232
239
127
67
33
20
29.5
22.8
23.5
12.5
6.6
3.2
1.9
143
167
187
190
169
87
76
14.0
16.4
18.3
18.6
16.6
8.5
7.5
356
200
154
120
69
45
75
34.9
19.6
15.1
11.8
6.8
4.4
7.4