London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Dagenham 1957

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Dagenham]

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Pupils found to require treatment
Number of individual pupils found at periodic medical inspection to require treatment
(excluding dental diseases and infestation with vermin).

No individual pupil is recorded more than once in any column of this table, therefore, the total in column (4) will not necessarily be the same as the sum of columns (2) and (3).

Age groupFor defective vision (excluding squint)For any of the other conditions recorded in Table IIATotal individual Pupils
(1)(2)(3)(4)
5 years29328343
10 — 12 + years77194254
14 years65155210
Other periodic154553
Total186722860

General Condition
Of the total 5,836 children examined only 162 (2.8%) were classified as unsatisfactory
in their general condition or nutrition. As in the past few years this small
percentage includes those who were previously classified as C or Poor, and the worst of
those as B or Fair. The overall picture of the condition of the children in the Borough
is reassuringly good.

Classification of the general condition of pupils inspected during the year in the age groups

Age group (1)Number of Pupils Inspected (2)A SatisfactoryB Unsatisfactory
No. (3)% of col. 2 (4)No. (5)% of col. 2 (6)
5 years1,9331,85896.12753.88
10 — 12 +years1,9651,93798.58281.42
14 years1,7351,71498.79211.21
Other periodic20316581.283818.72
Total5,8365,67497.231622.77

Uncleanliness
The number of children found with vermin and/or nits during the year was 124.
No children can be compulsorily cleansed in the Borough as we have no cleansing
station now, but frequent attendances of the infested children at school clinics and
repeated home visits by school nurses have resolved the problem to a small nucleus of
recurrently infested families who require constant supervision, and a larger number of
children who are only very temporarily infested and quickly cleansed by the parents.
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