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
Croydon 1905
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
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Owing to the very large number of enquiries made by the
Health Visitors concerning children absent from school on account
of suspected infectious disease and to changes in the staff, only some
of the deaths under one year were investigated. As, however,
similar enquiries have been made during the last four or five years, and
the total number investigated is now considerable, it has been
thought well to summarise the results obtained up to and including
the year 1905.
The following are the figures :—
During the years 1900, 1903 and 1905, investigations were
made by the three health visitors into the method of feeding
employed in respect to 800 deaths from all causes and 185 deaths
from " diarrhoeal " diseases occurring among infants who survived
for at least one week and died before reaching six months.
The following is a summary of the figures :—
| Deaths from all causes. | Deaths from Diarrhoea and Enteritis. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entirely breast fed | 402 | 50 per cent. | 29 | 16 per cent. |
| Breast and cow's milk | 22 | 3 per cent. | 4 | 2 per cent. |
| Breast and other foods | 24 | 3 per cent.. | 4 | 2 per cent. |
| Cow's milk | 181 | 23 per cent. | 84 | 45 per cent. |
| Condensed milk | 145 | 18 per cent. | 59 | 32 per cent. |
| Other prepared foods | 26 | 3 per cent. | 5 | 3 per cent. |
| 800 | 185 | |||
During the three years 1903-5, investigations were made by the
Health Visitors into the method of feeding employed during the
first six months of life in respect to 4,446 infants who survived this
length of time.
The following is a summary of the figures :—
| Entirely breast fed | 2745 | 62 per cent. |
| Breast and cow's milk. | 357 | 8 per cent. |
| Breast and other foods | 872 | 20 per cent. |
| Cow's milk | 232 | 5 per cent. |
| Condensed milk | 92 | 2 per cent. |
| Other prepared foods | 148 | 3 per cent. |
| 4446 |