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 1964
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Defects noted at routine medical inspections—The percentage of children referred for
treatment of a defect was 14.2 in 1964 compared with 13.4 in 1963. The comparative
percentages for sex and age are shown in the following table. The percentage referred for
vision defects has increased from 7.1 in 1962 to 8.0 in 1964; for other defects it has increased
from 6.4 in 1963 to 6.8 in 1964. In nearly all age groups the percentages of boys
and girls referred for treatment of vision defects have increased over those of last year.
Vision defects are dealt with in more detail in a later paragraph.
If the figures for the percentage of children found to have defects in those age groups
where the largest numbers of children were examined are compared with those for 1963,
marked increases are apparent in respect of boys and girls aged 15 or over, and less marked
ones in respect of boys aged 5 and 12; for 8-year-old boys there is a decrease and no
appreciable change in respect of the girls aged 5, 8 and 12. For boys and girls aged 15 and
over and for boys aged 12 the increases are attributable to increases in vision defects but
for boys aged 5 the increase was greater in other defects. In the case of boys aged 8 the
decrease was attributable solely to a decrease in vision defects.
| Age and sex | All defects | Vision defects | Defects other than vision | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | ||
| Boys | 8.6 | 9.8 | 9.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 8.3 | 9.6 | 9.1 | ||
| Girls | 7.9 | 7.6 | 8.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 7.7 | |
| 5 | Boys | 8.6 | 9.8 | 10.4 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 8.0 | 8.9 | 9.3 |
| Girls | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 7.1 | 7.2 | 7.6 | |
| Boys | 11.3 | 12.4 | 12.6 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 9.8 | 10.6 | 10.8 | |
| Girls | 9.5 | 10.1 | 10.1 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.6 | |
| 7 | Boys | 15.0 | 15.6 | 16.6 | 6.4 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 9.4 | 9.3 | 10.1 |
| Girls | 14.1 | 13.4 | 14.4 | 7.4 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 7.5 | 7.4 | 7.5 | |
| 8 | Boys | 13.7 | 16.1 | 15.5 | 7.0 | 8.3 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 8.6 | 8.6 |
| Girls | 12.4 | 14.4 | 14.5 | 7.0 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 6.0 | 6.8 | 7.0 | |
| 9 | Boys | 14.3 | 16.2 | 18.6 | 6.4 | 7.8 | 9.3 | 8.4 | 9.2 | 10.3 |
| Girls | 14.1 | 15.5 | 17.5 | 7.9 | 8.8 | 9.3 | 7.0 | 7.5 | 9.3 | |
| 10 | Boys | 15.4 | 17.4 | 19.0 | 7.0 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 9.3 | 9.4 | 11.2 |
| Girls | 14.9 | 15.4 | 15.6 | 8.7 | 8.4 | 8.5 | 6.7 | 8.0 | 7.7 | |
| 11 | Boys | 12.4 | 13.3 | 15.6 | 8.1 | 8.9 | 10.5 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 5.7 |
| Girls | 17.2 | 17.9 | 18.5 | 12.1 | 13.0 | 13.4 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 6.0 | |
| 12 | Boys | 14.3 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 9.8 | 9.6 | 10 1 | 5.1 | 5.5 | 5.6 |
| Girls | 17.2 | 17.8 | 18.0 | 11.4 | 12.5 | 12.9 | 6.6 | 6.2 | 6.0 | |
| 13 | Boys | 13.0 | 14.9 | 15.8 | 8.8 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.8 |
| Girls | 17.5 | 18.6 | 17.7 | 11.9 | 13.2 | 13.3 | 6.6 | 6.2 | 5.2 | |
| 14 | Boys | 11.7 | 13.7 | 15.9 | 9.0 | 10.8 | 11.7 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 4.6 |
| Girls | 15.5 | 16.4 | 17.8 | 12.2 | 12.6 | 14.3 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.2 | |
| 15 and over | Boys | 11.8 | 12.5 | 13.8 | 9.5 | 10.2 | 11.5 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Girls | 14.9 | 16.9 | 18.6 | 12.1 | 13.5 | 15.5 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 3.6 | |
| Total | Boys | 12.0 | 13.1 | 13.9 | 6.4 | 6.9 | 7.2 | 6.0 | 6.7 | 7.2 |
| Girls | 13.2 | 14.1 | 14.6 | 7.8 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 5.9 | 6.2 | 6.4 | |
| Total | Both sexes | 12.6 | 13.6 | 14.2 | 7.1 | 7.6 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 6.8 |
note: A child can be noted as requiring treatment of vision and another defect; hence the percentage requiring
vision treatment plus the percentage requiring treatment of other defects exceeds the total percentage referred
for treatment.
The following table shows the percentage of children of all ages noted for treatment or
observation of the defects listed for the years 1961 to 1964. These percentages remain
fairly stable over the period but some variations of detail will be noted.
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