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 1963
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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account of nutrition during 1963 are set out below, with similar figures for the four preceding years. The table shows a steadying of the percentages.
| Physical condition | Nutrition defect noted for | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satisfactory % | Unsatisfactory % | Treatment % | Observation % | |
| 1959 | 98.8 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| 1960 | 99.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| 1961 | 99.2 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| 1962 | 99.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| 1963 | 99.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
Tabulation by years of birth permits the comparison of samples of children of the same age group and is analogous to a 'follow-up' survey. The last four years' figures are:
| Percentage unsatisfactory physical condition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year of birth | Year of examination | |||
| 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | |
| 1945 | 0.4 | - | - | - |
| 1946 | 0.6 | 0.4 | - | - |
| 1947 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.3 | |
| 1948 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| 1949 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| 1950 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| 1951 | 1.6 | 1 .7 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| 1952 | 11 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 |
| 1953 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1 1.2 |
| 1954 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| 1955 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| 1956 | 10 | | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| 1957 | - | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.1 |
| 1958 | - | - | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| 1959 and later | - | - | - | 06 |
School meals and milk
The Ministry of Education asked for a return for a typical day of the total number of
(i) day school children who had school dinners and (ii) children who had school milk.
The day selected for the census was 24 September or the nearest normal school day thereto.
The figures are set out below with those for 1962 in brackets.
| Type of school | Number of children present | On payment | Number who took school dinners | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Total | ||||
| Secondary | 158,824 | 95,347 | 8,010 | 103,357 | 6508 |
| Primary | 205,055 | 115,640 | 14,098 | 129,738 | 64.22* |
| Special | 5,652 | 4,275 | 1,233 | 5,508 | 97.45 |
| Nursery | 1,870 | 885 | 95 | 980 | 96.55† |
| 371,401 | 216,147 | 23,436 | 239,583 | 65.19† | |
* Percentage of202,014 children, as 3,041 children attended half time and did not have dinners.
†Percentage of 1,015 children, as 855 children attended half time and did not have dinners.
‡Percentage of 367,505 children.
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