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269
Skin Diseases.
The findings show only the incidence in the groups examined
at a specific examination and must not be taken to indicate the
total incidence of skin disease in school children. Entrants gave
2.7 per cent. incidence in boys and 3.0 per cent. in girls; intermediate
boys 1.9 per cent. and girls 1.6 per cent. ; Leavers 1.7 per
cent. boys and 1.1 per cent. girls; a total in all groups of 2.2 per
cent. boys and 2.1 per cent. girls.
Deformities.
Among children examined at Routine Medical Inspection 1.4
percent. of the boys and 0.7 per cent. of the girls showed evidences
of rickets; 2.2 per cent. boys and 2.9 per cent. girls had some
abnormal degree of spinal curvature, and 4.5 per cent. boys and
5.5 per cent. girls showed some other physical deformity.
External Eye Diseases.
Squint was present in 1.9 per cent. of all children examined
in the various groups and was most frequently found in the Entrant
group (2.6 per cent. boys and 2.8 per cent. girls). Its incidence
declined as age advanced. Blepharitis occurred in 0.8 per cent. of
all the children and other external eye defects in 0.3 per cent.
The total percentages of eye defects in the various groups was
3.9 for Entrants ; 2.6 for Intermediates; and 1.7 for Leavers. For
1935 the corresponding figures were 2.9, 2.3 and 1.9.
Vision.
The Entrant group is not examined for visual acuity at routine
medical inspection. If a child is wearing corrective glasses, the
vision is tested with the glasses worn at the time of examination.
In the Intermediate group 6.5 per cent. of the boys and 6.2 per
cent. of the girls were referred for treatment or observation for defective
vision, and in the Leaver group 9.0 per cent. of the boys and
12.5 per cent. of the girls. The Leaver group of girls invariably
gives the worst figures for vision. Taking several consecutive years
there is manifest a small upward trend in the number of school
children with defective vision, but the curve of this trend is
undoubtedly flattening out as the objection to the wearing of
spectacles becomes progressively less.