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95
Nutrition.
In last year's report the question of mal-nutrition was
discussed and it was also stated that in certain of the schools
the average height and weight of the children were consistently
and uniformly lower than in some of the other
schools.
At almost all age periods the children in the South Acton,
Priory, Beaumont Park and Roman Catholic Schools were
below the weight of the children in the other schools of the
district. A reference to Table 6 will show that the results for
1909 were very similar in their character to those of the
previous year.
An attempt has been made to discriminate between the
various causes of mal-nutrition, and the Committee has put in
force The Provision of Meals Act, 1906.
Dinners are provided by the Education Committee for
those children who are so under-nourished that they are
unable to obtain full benefit from their education and in whom
poverty is the probable cause of the mal-nutrition. There are
two restaurants in the district at which arrangements have
been made to receive the school children; one of these is in
Acton Lane and the other in Osborne Road, South Acton.
The dinners are supplied at a cost of 2d. or 2½d. per head, and
a fairly varied menu is provided, consisting three times a
week of soup and bread followed by pudding, and on alternate
days meat and vegetables are given.
We have visited the centres on several occasions and
found the food was hot and well served. The quantity given
was ample for the smaller children—when questioned the
older boys generally admitted they could eat more. As far as
possible the bigger children are given rather larger helpings of
pudding, but this is difficult to administer if many children