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 1936
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
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Table VII.
SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS AT ROUTINE EXAMINATIONS.
(Percentages.)
| Condition. | Entrants. | Intermediate. | Leavers. | Other Ages. | All Groups. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys | Girls | Boys | Girls | Boys | Girls | Boys | Girls | Boys | Girls | |
| Cleanliness: (Percentage Clean) | ||||||||||
| Head | 99.5 | 98.7 | 99.1 | 97.9 | 99.9 | 99.1 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 99.5 | 98.5 |
| Body | 99.9 | 100.0 | 99.7 | 99.5 | 99.9 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 99.8 | 99.8 |
| Clothing (satisfactory) | 99.8 | 99.7 | 99.8 | 99.7 | 97.7 | 99.5 | 100.0 | 98.4 | 99.2 | 99.6 |
| Footgear (satisfactory) | 99.8 | 99.7 | 99.3 | 99.8 | 97.8 | 99.5 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 99.2 | 99.7 |
| Nutrition (normal) | 91.4 | 92.1 | 91.4 | 91.7 | 96.8 | 94.7 | 81.3 | 95.2 | 91.8 | 92.5 |
| Defects: | ||||||||||
| Circulatory System | 10.5 | 10.5 | 16.0 | 13.9 | 19.5 | 16.7 | ... | 0.8 | 14.3 | 12.8 |
| Pulmonary System | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 | ... | ... | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Skin Disease | 2.7 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 6.2 | ... | 2.2 | 2.1 |
| Defects of Nose and Throat | 57.7 | 54.7 | 47.8 | 42.7 | 32.3 | 24.8 | 56.2 | 33.3 | 48.3 | 44.6 |
| Enlarged Cervical Glands | 29.9 | 30.4 | 23.5 | 17.9 | 12.9 | 9.0 | 37.5 | 14.3 | 23.7 | 21.9 |
| External Eye Disease | 3.8 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 1.5 | ... | 6.4 | 2.8 | 3.3 |
| Defective Vision | 0.1 | 0.4 | 6.5 | 6.2 | 9.0 | 12.5 | 6.2 | 9.5 | 4.3 | 4.8 |
| Defective Hearing | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | ... | ... | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Speech Defects | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | ... | ... | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Dental Disease (more than four decayed) | 24.0 | 24.1 | 11.8 | 12.1 | 6.4 | 5.0 | 12.5 | 6.4 | 15.7 | 16.1 |
| Dull and Backward | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 6.2 | ... | 1.1 | 0.5 |
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.
For nutrition, the Intermediate group (aged 8) gave the worst
figures, whilst as a group the Leavers (12—13 years) showed the
best findings. Taking all the groups examined subnormal nutrition
was recorded in 7.9 per cent. of the children as contrasted with
6.9 per cent. in 1935.
Enlarged cervical glands were recorded most often in the
Entrants group in both sexes; a finding of interest as a pointer to
the need for the pre-school age medical supervision which is lacking
at the present time. There is a close relationship between enlarged
cervical glands and unhealthy conditions of the nose and throat,
Which is brought, out each year in the figures from medical inspections.
In themselves simple enlarged neck glands are of no great