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The greater part of this increase can evidently be assigned to the
years between 1914 and 1927, and although detailed figures are not
available for these years, it would seem that the increase probably
began several years after the end of the war. It is strange that
in the last ten years boys of 12 years should have shown such a
disproportionate increase in weight as compared with girls at this
age. It will be noted that a decrease in the average figures is
found in only one group, and that this decrease is so small as to
be insignificant.
(ii) Nutrition surveys. Two years ago the Board of
Education made some alterations in the method of classifying
varying degrees of nutrition, and the complete results of the
assessment of the children in this area will be found in Table II
of the Appendix to this section. The percentages of children who
were assessed as falling in the four categories in the various agegroups
are shown in Table XI.

Superficially the figures for West Ham compare favourably
with those for England and Wales. It should however be
noted that the opinion is gradually gaining ground that the grade
of nutrition, as gauged in the usual way by clinical examination,
is possibly not of great value. In a recent investigation Mr. R.
Huws Jones adduced some convincing statistical evidence on this
point, and the discrepancies which he showed to exist between the
findings, not only of different doctors who examined the same
children, but also of the same doctors who examined the same
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