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 X.
| Group. | No. of Children Inspected. | No. referred for treatment. | Percentage referred for treatment. | Corresponding percentage for 1935. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entrants | 3230 | 650 | 20.1 | 15.3 |
| Intermediates | 2398 | 466 | 19.4 | 19.8 |
| Leavers | 1605 | 348 | 21.7 | 21.1 |
| Other Ages | 79 | 20 | 25.3 | 15.4 |
| 7312 | 1484 | 20.3 | 18.0 |
The fact that 20.1 per cent. of children examined shortly after
entering school at 5 years of age required treatment of some kind
is an adverse commentary upon the lack of any systematic medical
and dental supervision of the pre-school child. To leave medical
and dental supervision in the hands of parents has been proved
repeatedly to be insufficient. A parent cannot be expected to recognise
those early departures from health which, if dealt with promptly,
are easily put right. When a noticeable breakdown happens, the
child is taken to a doctor, who endeavours to remedy a condition
which should never have arisen. In other cases the departure from
normal is so insidious that irreparable consequences may have
supervened before the parent notices anything amiss. Initial
flight defects, if unremedied, become, in not a few cases, serious
and permanent as school life advances.