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look with great pleasure upon the fact that the percentage of
children found to be suffering from untreated defects of the eyes
and ear, and of children found to be suffering from uncleanly conditions
and disease of the skin is diminishing year by year.
Dr. Forrester has given me certain information concerning
obesity in children within the district, and, at my request, she has
presented a report on this condition which I have much pleasure
in including in this survey of the health of Enfield children. I have
no doubt that every member of the Committee will read this report
with the greatest interest. It is extraordinary that the number of
cases of fatness or obesity that came before Dr. Forrester during the
past three years has shown such an enormous increase. Dr. Forrester
sets out in her report the actual weight, height, and age of
these children, and in certain cases their mental condition. Neither
Dr. Forrester nor I can account for this sudden increase and we shall
be interested to know whether it is common throughout the country.
We do not think the condition can be endemic in Enfield, for in
many cases the children have come from other areas or passed
through the district, only remaining here for a period of a few
months. I believe this report to be of great importance at the
present moment when so much is being said throughout the country
on the subject of malnutrition. In the minds of the public the
expression "malnourished child" conjures up a thin, frail, anaemic
subject. This may be classified as a branch of malnutrition and
named subnutrition, but there is no doubt that these 41 children
seen by Dr. Forrester are suffering from a form of malnutrition,
and a form of a very serious nature ; serious because in most cases
a cure is not known. It has been suggested that certain glands of
the body, namely the thyroid or the pituitary glands, are at fault;
but after all, there must be a reason why they are at fault, and this
must be due to some form of malnutrition. The matter is serious,
moreover, as it causes so much mental unhappiness, especially so
in the case of the older girls. This will be obvious from Dr. Forrester's
opening remarks, where she explains the reluctance of the
parents and the children with regard to examination and weighing.
Once again, Mr. James, the Senior School Dental Surgeon, has
placed before you a report which is full of interesting facts and
deductions. His report brings before us clearly the necessity that
existed for the treatment of secondary school children. The proportion
of children at these schools who were suffering from dental
caries was not only higher than amongst the children in our elementary
schools, but the dental condition of the individual child
was worse. It had been thought that the children attending
secondary schools were obtaining treatment privately, in view of
the fact that it was suggested that they came from wealthier homes
and that the higher form of education they were receiving had led