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POPULATION.
The Registrar-General's figures shew the population at
mid-year 1948 to be 72,750, which equals approximately
eight persons per acre. The population continues to increase
at a steady rate, having been 70,580 in 1947 and 67,870 in
1946.
As it is now some eighteen years since the last Census
was taken, it is impossible to give the details which a
Census provides and which are of such importance in
practising preventive medicine. The vital statistics of a
comparatively small area may appear to give too small a
sample to be of much value, but it is only by the comparison
of the figures for comparative populations that one can
separate the "good" areas from the "bad" ones, and
thereby give the Medical Officer of Health and his staff the
information necessary to them before they can conduct any
research into the needs of the "bad" areas.
A problem which has arisen in recent years, and one
which is likely to become greater with the passage of time,
is that of the increasing numbers of elderly people in the
community. Here again one must have a knowledge of the
appropriate vital statistics before geriatrics can come into
its own and assist in the care and treatment of the elderly.
BIRTHS.
The rate of 16.4 per 1,000 population is given by the
Registrar-General, which shows a fall compared with recent
years. The average yearly birth rate since 1934 is 17.7
per 1,000 population, so this year's rate compares unfavourably
with previous years. In the years following a war it is
usual for the birth rate to rise steeply, but the summit has
probably been reached now, and a steady fall is to be
expected. The excess of births over deaths was 538. There
were 149 births in Nursing Homes in the district, but the
figures for home confinements are not available, as they
are not kept separately for the Chislehurst and Sidcup area
at Maidstone, but as a total figure for the whole of No. 7
Area, comprising Penge, Beckenham, Bromley, Chislehurst
and Sidcup, and Orpington.
Illegitimate Births. The illegitimate birth rate for 1,000
births for 1948 was 3.5. This figure is a variable quantity
from year to year, but reached its highest level of the past
14 years in the later years of the war.
Stillbirths. The stillbirth rate for the year was 23.4 per
1,000 births, which shews a decline from the average over
the previous 14 years. But this again is a figure which
varies considerably from year to year.
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