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

View report page

Leyton 1938

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Leyton]

This page requires JavaScript

122
A Comparison of Heights and Weights, 1911 and 1938.
Report by Dr. Mary L. Gilchrist.
It is interesting to compare the heights and weights of the
school children of Leyton in 1938 with those of 1911, and also with
the figures published in 1927 by the Anthropometric Committee
(appointed by the Board of Education) giving an average height and
weight for each age group for the whole of England and Wales.
It is rather difficult to compare the " entrants " age group of
1938 with 1911 as, though the majority of the childern are between
5 and 6 years of age, there are some in the 1938 group who are
between 6 and 7 years and a very few between 7 and 8. If children
miss, through absence, their entrance examination they are included
in the next year's group so that the figures are slightly higher than
they might otherwise be. For the sake of comparison two figures
have therefore been given for the 1911 "entrants."

TABLE I. ENTRANTS.

Groups.Height (inches).Weight (pounds).
Boys.Girls.Boys.Girls.
Leyton—1911.
Ages 5—6 years40.640.7534.337.2
6-742.642.740.539.9
1927. Anthropometric Committee. 6½ to 6½ years43.042.841.340.1
Leyton—1938. Entrants43.042.844.343.0

It can be seen from Table I that the claim which has been
made in other areas that the children of to-day are taller and
heavier when they enter school than they were when the school
medical services began is justified in Leyton also. There is no
significant difference between the 1927 figures and Leyton's 1938
figures for height, but the Leyton weights are better in the case of
both boys and girls.