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84
There is evidence, which Dr. Sheldon's enquiry has shown, that the care given
to children in the residential schools improves them greatly and they gain in height
under the present dietary year by year more than the average gain expected from
consideration of the gains in the general population. Thus, at 12—13 the average
gain in height in 1932-33 of 12-year-old boys was 3 inches (as against expected
gain of 2.12 inches) and of 13-year-old boys 2.5 inches (as against an expected gain
of 2.12 inches).
The chest measurements of unselected groups of boys at the ages 13—15 are on
an average 45 per cent. of the height.
The Exmouth demands at the 14th birthday, boys of 57 inches in height with
a chest measurement 48 per cent. of height, i.e., boys much more sturdy and of better
physique than the average, because they are going in for a hard life.
The average height for London boys of 14 (i.e., of an average age of 14½ years)
in the general population is 58 inches, so that an average London boy would qualify
in height for the Exmouth. As 50 per cent. of the boys are above the average and
50 per cent. below, it may be assumed that some 50 per cent. would qualify in height,
but some of them undoubtedly would fail to qualify in chest measurement; so that
it could very fairly be assumed that a similar proportion of London boys as a whole
might fail as from Leytonstone.
Sir George Newman, in a recent report, stated that, because boys have not the
physique for the services, it is not to be deduced that they are not fully able to cope
with civilian life adequately.
There is another way of looking at the question. The population is made up of
a number of physical " types ". These types are congenital and fixed, and no amount
of feeding or physical exercises will change one of these types into another. There
are, for instance, the brevilinear type with heavy physique and broad chests, the
longilinear type with lanky physique and narrow chests, and the normosphlanchnic
type which lies between these.
The method of the services (and the Exmouth) in demanding average height
with more than average chest girth selects only one type of the population, viz.,
the brevilinear (which no doubt experience has shown is best fitted for a seafaring
life) and excludes the others ; as, however, these others are congenitally fixed and
cannot be altered, a high proportion of the population must fail to qualify naturally
for the Exmouth.
That these considerations are well founded is shown by the results of the examination
with regard to fitness for the Exmouth of boys in east end schools. An examination
has been made of 200 unselected boys in east London central schools and 200
unselected boys in senior boys' departments of east London elementary schools for
their ability to pass the Exmouth test, with the following results:—
Type of school.
Percentage failing to reach the Exmouth standard
Leytonstone children's homes 44.4
East London central schools 40.6
East London elementary schools 43.0
The boys at Leytonstone, however, are not unselected. The children under
public assistance generally come from the poorest stocks and start out with a congenitally
poor physique; they are also frequently stunted by rickets and neglect
in infancy before the Council receives them.
In May, 1935, the heights and weights of boys aged 12 to 14½ were taken in
four of the Council's residential schools, including Leytonstone. The results are
given below. The boys in all the schools are on the standard diet.
A consideration of the figures shows that there is no constant or significant
difference between the measurements of boys at Leytonstone and those at the other
schools. There is the usual variation which is always found when small groups are
being compared.