View report page

133
(8) He should attempt to form and record a judgment
upon the effects of the proceedings taken under the
Act upon the physical well-being of the children,
both generally and as regards individual cases.
The above is an extract from the Annual Report for 1910 of
the Chief Medical Officer of the Board of Education.
From the above quotations it is evident the suggestion is that
the School Medical Officer should carry out the above outlined
duties, and I am therefore bringing them to your notice, together
with certain observations of my own thereon.
Paragraph 1, which deals with children found on medical
inspection to exhibit symptoms of bad or insufficient nutrition,
immadiately raises the question as to how to feed such children in
addition to those already being fed, and still to keep within the
limit of the halfpenny rate.
To enable you to come to a workable conclusion I have endeavoured
to estimate the number who would be likely to require
feeding. I find on reference to my Annual Report for 1910 that
299 children were reported to be badly nourished. Likewise in the
Report issued by the Board of Education on the Working of the
Provision of Meals Act for the year ending March 31st, 1910, I
find that the total number of children fed by the Education Authority
of Leyton was 1,490, and that the cost for food was £692.
At the same rate the cost of feeding 299 would amount to about
£139, so that the two classes together would cost £831, and as a halfpenny
rate produces £973, on these figures there would be a balance
of £142.
But it is quite probable that some of those children recommended
for feeding as the result of medical inspection would be
found on investigation to be already fed as the result of the system
of selection obtaining.