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 1935
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
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259
The proper care of the teeth before the school age is reached
would lead to much less attention being necessary during school
age. The Leaver group gave the best findings, a result brought
about by the work of the School Dental Service.
T able VII.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AT ROUTINE EXAMINATIONS.
(Percentages.)
| Condition | Entants. | Intermediates. | Leavers. | Other Ages | All Groups | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boy. | Girl. | Boys | Girls | Boys | Girls | Boys | Girls | Boys | Girls | |
| Cleanliness— (Percentage clean) | ||||||||||
| Head | 99.9 | 99.3 | 99.8 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99.9 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 99.9 | 99.6 |
| Body | 99.8 | 99.8 | 99 9 | 99.8 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 99.9 | 99.9 |
| Clothing (satisfactory) | 98.9 | 99.1 | 98.9 | 99.8 | 99.7 | 98.6 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 99.0 | 99.2 |
| Footgear do. | 98.8 | 99.2 | 98.8 | 99.8 | 99.2 | 98.6 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 98.9 | 99.3 |
| Nutrition (normal) | 93.7 | 92.8 | 91.5 | 92.5 | 94.7 | 94.6 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 93.1 | 93.1 |
| Defects— | ||||||||||
| Circulatory System | 9.7 | 11.0 | 13.8 | 13.6 | 12 5 | 15.2 | ... | 25.0 | 11.7 | 12.8 |
| Pulmonary system (defects not T.B.) | 6.8 | 6.1 | 3.1 | 2 4 | 1 7 | 1.0 | ... | ... | 4.6 | 3.8 |
| Skin Disease | 2.0 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | ... | ... | 1.4 | 1.3 |
| Defects of Nose and Throat. | 52.1 | 47.8 | 34 1 | 36.5 | 25.1 | 18.0 | ... | 37.5 | 40.9 | 37.4 |
| Enlarged Cervical Glands | 19.2 | 15.2 | 13.6 | 10.0 | 13 9 | 5.3 | ... | 12.5 | 163. | 11.3 |
| External Eye Disease | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 1.3 | ... | ... | 1.0 | 0.9 |
| Defective Vision | 0.3 | 0.3 | 6.4 | 7.8 | 10.5 | 11.8 | ... | ... | 4.3 | 5.3 |
| Defective Hearing | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0 7 | 0.6 | ... | ... | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Speech Defects | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.7 | ... | ... | ... | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| Dental Disease (more than lour decayed) | 19.9 | 21.9 | 12.0 | 9.0 | 3.5 | 2.5 | ... | 12.5 | 14.1 | 13.6 |
| Dull and Backward | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.6 | ... | 12.5 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
The above Table gives in a concise form the findings at
Routine Medical Inspections.
Defects of the nose and throat are once again the commonest
defects found and show an increase on last year's findings; the
Entrant group is still the worst, and the Leaver group the best.
l'or nutrition, the Intermediate group (aged 8) gave the worst
figures, whilst as a group the Leavers (12—13 years) showed the
best findings. The percentages, as compared with last year, show
a distinct improvement in the standard. Taking all the groups
examined subnormal nutrition was recorded in 6.9 per cent. of the
children as contrasted with 19.1 per cent. in 19-34.