London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1945
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
This page requires JavaScript
52
increased to 265,965, with the return of children from the reception areas, and by
the end of the year the number had further increased to 277,359, with a school
attendance rate of 83.8 per cent.; the number of schools open in December was 741
compared with 668 at the end of 1944.
The usual four age group inspections were continued throughout the year.
Particulars of detailed examinations at these schools during 1944 and 1945 are:—
| Age group | 1945 | 1944 |
|---|---|---|
| Entrants | 28,943 | 23,614 |
| Children aged 7 | 19,227 | 16,118 |
| Children aged 11 | 20,592 | 17,857 |
| Leavers aged 13 plus | 22,440 | 21,809 |
| 91.202 | 79,398 | |
| Other ages | 21,762 | 16,004 |
| 112,964 | 95,402 | |
| Children in special schools and classes | 941 | 827 |
| Total | 113,905 | 96,229 |
"Other ages" refer to the children outside the usual age groups who returned
and were examined because no recent medical records were available. The increase
on the previous year was due to the return of the children to London shortly after
the termination of hostilities.
Re-inspections of children previously noted with defects totalled 48,918. These
inspections showed that, excluding dental cases, 87.5 per cent. were treated or
discharged as no longer needing treatment; the remainder were still to be followed
up. In addition, 28,234 inspections were made of children who were being given
school meals on the advice of school doctors, head teachers or school care
committees, and 26,466 of children about whom advice was required by teachers,
care committees, etc.
Including the children seen in schools and at day centres for the treatment of
rheumatism, vision, ear and nutritional defects, the total number of inspections made
was 250,281, exclusive of 17,060 carried out at higher education institutions. These
compare with 352,169 and 12,683 for 1944.
The smaller number of inspections compared with 1944, notwithstanding the
increase in the school population, is explained by the fact that in 1944 there were
118,000 inspections in connection with the evacuation scheme and no such inspections
in 1945.
The following comparisons relate to the children examined in the four age groups in 1945 and in the two most recent war-time years, and those examined in the same age groups in 1938, the last complete pre-war year of medical inspection:—
| 1945 | 1944 | 1943 | 1938 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers examined | 91,202 | 79,398 | 96,902 | 169,995 |
| Nutrition unsatisfactory | 5.38 | 5.65 | 6.00 | 6.6 |
| Nits or pediculi-hair | 1.35 | 1.75 | 2.15 | 2.3 |
| Teeth—obvious decay | 27.67 | 26.33 | 31.01 | 29.8 |
| Vision—6/9 or worse (excluding entrants) | 22.58 | 23.76 | 22.61 | 32.2 |
| Adenoids and enlarged tonsils | 7.3 | 6.5 | 7.6 | 9.2 |
| Skin diseases | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.0 |
| Enlarged glands | 1.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
| External eye disease | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.7 |
| Otorrhœa | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Defective hearing | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Heart disease | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
| Anæmia | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Lung disease (not T.B.) | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 |
| Rickets (boys—entrants only) | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.0 |
| „ (girls—entrants only) | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.4 |