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
Barnet 1911
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Barnet UDC]
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The notification of Births Act, 1907, has not been
adopted in this District,
Infantile Mortality is due to a number of causes, the
chief of which are:— Alcoholism; impure food supplies and
contamination of infants' food by dust, flies, &c.; improper
feeding; impure milk; insanitary environment and overcrowding
; and ante-natal causes. The housing of the working
classes is intimately associated with the question of
Infantile Mortality, owing to the fact that young infants
are peculiarly susceptible to overcrowded and insanitary
conditions.
The hot dry summer of the past year has been associated
with an unusual prevalence of infantile diarrhoea throughout
the whole country. This District was not excepted, and a
large number of young children were affected. There were
only 3 deaths directly due to this cause. The improvement in
the housing conditions is no doubt partly responsible for this,
and the further provision of suitable cottages will tend to
reduce still more the number of deaths.
VITAL STATISTICS FOR 10 YEARS.
1901 — 1911.
Appended is given in tabulated form the lates for births, deaths, etc., in Barnet for the past year as compared with the mean average for Barnet for the 10 years 1901-11, and also the mean average for Urban districts in the County during the same period.
| Barnet, | Mean average, Barnet, | Mean average of whole of Urban Districts in County, | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1911. | 1901-11 | 1901-11. | |
| Population | 10,440 | 9,330 | 176,888 |
| Birth Rate | 22.9 | 23.27 | 23.57 |
| Death Rate | 10.6 | 11.0 | 11.8 |
| Ratio of Infant Deaths to Births per 1,000 | 98 | 99.5 | 90.1 |
| Epidemic Death Rate | .19 | .63 | .77 |
| Diarrhoea do. | .23 | .28 | .26 |
| Phthisis do. | .66 | .83 | .83 |
| Cancer do. | 1.04 | .72 | .92 |
It will be noticed that the rates are less with regard to
the General, Epidemic, Phthisis and Diarrhoea deaths,
and higher in the case of the Infantile and Cancer deaths.
ZYMOTIC DISEASES.
The number of deaths from diseases of this class was 6,
as compared with 3 in the previous year.