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that by far the greater number of defects come under the
headings of ear, nose and throat. There is obviously in
this field a great source of investigation as to the real
causation of such defects, which, if abolished, would lead
to greater fitness in the child. It will also be noticed from
these returns that ten per cent. of the children suffer from
visual defect, and here again I would like to see a greater
reduction of the incidence of this serious defect. What
part minor infectious diseases play in this defect is not
definitely known. Far too lightly do we treat diseases
such as measles and whooping cough, little realising that
the aftermath of these infectious diseases is not always
obvious until very late in convalescence. I personally
would stress that greater recognition should be given to the
health of the child immediately following any type of
infectious disease, by lengthy convalescence, by increased
nutrition and possibly change of environment.
There is also a tendency after any illness to hurry the
child back to school before complete recovery of health.
We are ourselves culpable in this direction, by demanding
the child's return to school if it cannot produce a medical
certificate. There is again the fetish of a high school
attendance figure, but at the same time I do recognise that
in certain instances the school environment is a preferable
one to negligent home surroundings. Apart from all
this, parents to-day are becoming rapidly "health conscious,"
and this factor will play its part in correction of
any culpability on our part.
During the past year I have endeavoured to fill the gap
between the maternity and child welfare examination and
the school medical examination by the adoption of an
inspection of the 4 year old child at the welfare centre.
The numbers, however, are too small to give any indication
of its value.
The bridging of the gap from the school leaving age
to the employment age is an outstanding problem. The
contemplated raising of the school leaving age will help
to alter this defect and permit of another age group being
added to the routine medical inspections.
At the request of the Board of Education another
table has been added regarding the nutritional standard of