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
Leyton 1936
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]
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It is interesting to compare these figures with those of previous years and the following table gives this information (children for whom no data were available were omitted from the calculations) :—
| 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage improved | 63.7 | 59.0 | 68.6 | 75.5 | 86.2 |
| Percentage stationary | 34.9 | 36.3 | 26.1 | 18.3 | 8.8 |
| Percentage worse | 1.3 | 4.5 | 3.2 | 6.1 | 4.8 |
Thus, for the past five years, there has been a steady increase
in the number of children attending the school whose physical
condition improved, a steady decrease in the number whose condition
remained stationary, whilst the number whose physical
condition deteriorated has remained fairly constant at about
4 per cent.
The following table shows the average monthly gain in weight (ounces) made by the children in the main disease groups :—
| Monthly gain in ounces. | ||||
| Bronchitis | 13 | |||
| Chorea | ||||
| Rheumatic Carditis | 12 | |||
| Malnutrition | 11 | |||
| Deformities | ||||
| Asthma | 10 | |||
| Bronchiectasis | ||||
| Delicate children | 9 | |||
| T.B. Adenitis | 7.5 | |||
| Bronchitis and Malnutrition | 7 | |||
It is a striking fact that children with bronchitis do much
better than those who, in addition to suffering from chronic bronchitis,
are also undernourished. Even though the undernourished
child who suffers from bronchitis gains less than his fellows, his
physical condition does improve during his attendance at the open
air school.
The children with rheumatic carditis who attended the school
in 1936 did surprisingly well. Children with inactive rheumatic
infection only are admitted to the school; occasionally, a doubtful
case is met with and the child is sometimes given a trial at the open