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 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
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268
In the Intermediate group 7.7 per cent. of the boys and 8.8 per
cent. of the girls were referred for treatment or observation for
defective vision, and in the Leaver group 12.1 per cent. of the boys
and 14.3 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 but steady upward trend in the number
of school children with defective vision.
Table V.
| Extent of Defect. | Intermediate. | Leavers. | Total. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | |||||
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | % | % | |
| Normal : R | 1058 | 95.1 | 1205 | 93.2 | 939 | 91.2 | 966 | 91.1 | 93.2 | 92.3 |
| 6/6ths or 6/9ths L | 1059 | 95.2 | 1225 | 94.7 | 951 | 92.3 | 971 | 91.6 | 93.8 | 93.3 |
| 6/12ths or 6/24ths R | 47 | 4.2 | 81 | 6.3 | 81 | 7.9 | 80 | 7.5 | 6.0 | 6.8 |
| 47 | 4.2 | 65 | 5.0 | 72 | 7.0 | 81 | 7.6 | 5.6 | 6.2 | |
| 6/36ths or worse R | 7 | 0.7 | 7 | 0.5 | 10 | 0.9 | 14 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| 6 | 0.6 | 3 | 0.3 | 7 | 0.7 | 8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | |
Table VI.
| Entrants. | Intermediate. | Leavers. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | Boys. | Girls. | |||||||
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| Perfect set of Teeth | 746 | 48.6 | 787 | 49.8 | 744 | 66.9 | 884 | 68.4 | 715 | 69.4 | 805 | 75.9 |
| One to four Decayed | 420 | 27.4 | 417 | 26.4 | 247 | 22.2 | 249 | 19.2 | 258 | 25.1 | 185 | 17.5 |
| Four or more Decayed | 368 | 24.0 | 377 | 23.8 | 121 | 10.9 | 160 | 12.4 | 57 | 5.5 | 70 | 6.6 |
| Totals | 1534 | 1581 | 1112 | 1293 | 1030 | 1060 | ||||||
It is interesting to note that 4,844 children of all groups, or
61.7 per cent., were said to have sound teeth at medical inspection.
The percentage of sound teeth found by the Dental Inspectors was
24 per cent. The examination made by the dentists is more searching
than that made by the medical inspectors, who are instructed
to concentrate rather on purely medical signs.