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16
In 1935, 31,965 children aged 7 had been examined. The remainder of those
8 years old in 1936 were dealt with by preliminary inspection, followed by detailed
examination of those selected by the doctor at the preliminary inspections as
obviously requiring it.
The number of 8-year-old children in the elementary schools who came up for
preliminary inspection was 10,258, and of these 1,977 (19-2 per cent.) were submitted
to detailed inspection. In 74 per cent, a parent attended this detailed inspection.
Of the children examined in detail, 41 • 8 per cent, were referred for treatment for
defects found.
The whole group of 10,258 children was tested for visual acuity. Of these,
845 children were referred for refraction, i.e., 8-2 per cent., while 2,870 (27-9 per
cent.) were referred for treatment for dental caries.
The health
of the
leaving child.
The Council has undertaken the examination of a fourth age group, namely,
children who are leaving school. This examination takes place in the term prior
to that in which the children are due to leave school. The results of this examination
are available at the school-leaving conference, and are of assistance in determining
the choice of a suitable occupation. Coming at the end of the school career, the
examination is useful in estimating the results of medical attention received since
the children entered school.
This year's " leaver " group comprised 24,393 boys and 24,502 girls. In nutrition
they were found to be better than the younger groups, only 4 • 1 per cent, of the
boys and 3-4 per cent, girls being classed as subnormal. They compared with
4 • 1 per cent, boys, and 3 • 8 per cent, girls in the previous year.
In personal cleanliness this group also shows an improvement on the 11-year-old
group, 99 • 0 per cent, boys and 97 • 0 per cent, girls having perfectly clean heads. The
dental condition of this group was found to be slightly inferior to that of the 11-yearold
group, for both boys and girls, the percentage with satisfactory mouths being
76'0 in the case of boys, and 75'6 in the case of girls, compared with 77" 1 and 78 9
respectively in the 11-year-old group. In other respects the "leaver" children
showed an improvement in health over the 11-year-old group.
Spinal curvature in the " leaver " girls was reported in -9 per cent, compared
with -8 per cent, at age 11 ; on the other hand, heart defect in the " leaver"
girls was 1-6 per cent., compared with 1-7 in the 11-year-old group. The older
girls invariably present more cases of spinal curvature and heart defect than do
the older boys. The percentage of spinal defect in " leaver " boys was • 4 per cent,
and of heart defect 1 ■ 2 per cent.
The falling off in the condition of the teeth of the " leaver " children is not a
satisfactory feature of the school medical work. It is due partly to the fact that
skilled inspection of the teeth by the inspecting dental surgeons has not yet extended
in all cases to the children aged 12 and 13 years, but ceases at the age of 11 in many
schools. This defect in the system will be remedied by the increased dental inspections
which are provided for in the 3-year programme now being carried out.
The reorganisation of the tops of schools has also caused difficulty in the way of
following up the older children.
Co-operatior
between the
school
medical
service and
juvenile
advisory
committees.
The Board of Education forwarded an administrative memorandum (137),
dated 16th September, 1935, directing the attention of local education authorities to
the report of the Board's chief medical officer for 1933, in which he discussed the
question of co-operation between the school medical service and juvenile employment
and advisory committees. The Board had found that in many areas arrangements
for such co-operation did not exist or, where they existed, were not on the lines
which the chief medical officer suggested as likely to prove most useful. The matter
is one to which the Ministry of Labour and the National Advisory Council for
Juvenile Employment attach considerable importance
The Board suggested that the most useful form of advice is in terms related
to the specific unsuitability of certain children for particular types of work.
This question had already been discussed between the London school medical
staff and representatives of the National Institute of Industrial Psychology and of