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
Barking 1930
[Report of the School Medical Officer for Barking]
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129
Defective Footgear.—Cases of children with defective footgear
were, as heretofore, referred to the Boots Minor Sub-Committee, who
considered applications for the provision of boots in 196 cases,
compared with 193 in 1929. In all, 217 children were supplied with
boots during the year.
(c) Heights and Weights.—The following table gives the average heights and weights of children examined at the three undermentioned age periods in all of the schools, compared with the results at similar age periods in 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1929.
| Year. | Average Height in Inches. | Average Weight in Pounds. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 yrs. | 8 yrs. | 12 yrs. | 5 yrs. | 8 yrs. | 12 yrs. | |
| 1926 | 42.4 | 49.9 | 57.5 | 40.3 | 54.6 | 82.4 |
| 1927 | 42.2 | 49.3 | 57.1 | 40.6 | 52.5 | 80.1 |
| 1928 | 42.1 | 49.5 | 57.2 | 40.2 | 56.4 | 81.2 |
| 1929 | 41.9 | 50.5 | 5G.3 | 40.9 | 56.3 | 83.5 |
| 1930 | 43.5 | 49.9 | 57.2 | 42.6 | 57.5 | 82.9 |
| Average for 5 years | 42.4 | 49.8 | 57.1 | 40.9 | 55.5 | 82.0 |
(d) Minor Ailments.—The number of minor ailments found
at routine medical inspection is not large.
This does not mean to say that there is not a fairly large
number of cases in Barking, but that they are picked up promptly
by your teachers and by your nurses and that they are dealt with
at your Minor Ailment Clinics, so that when it comes to the children
being examined at routine medical inspection the numbers actually
found at such inspections are favourable.
(e) & (f) Skin Disease and Eye Disease.—Similarly, with skin
disease and eye disease, the number of cases actually found at
routine inspections is small.
(g) Vision and Squint.—The number of cases of defective
vision showed an increase last year on the then previous year and