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101
This year, I give as well for comparison's sake, the
average height and weight of other children, and it will be
seen that while the heights of the boys are similar, broadly
speaking, the weights are almost invariably below the
average. Taking the boys at the ages 4-5 years the height
is approximately up to the average, and the weight is a
little over one-pound above the average. In the next year
5-6 the height remains up to the average, but the weight is
nearly one-pound below it. The next year the weight is
getting on for two pounds below, and so it goes on until
at the ages 13-14 when 88 boys were examined their average
weight is about 4½ lb. below the average recorded by the
Anthropometric Committee. Between 12-13 the difference
in weight is as much as 6½ pounds on the wrong side for the
Ilford boys.
The weights of the girls tell a similar tale, but not to
so marked an extent.
In comparing the individual schools—at Loxford the
boys' weights and heights at 5-6 practically agree, but at
ages 13-14 they are 2 inches on the wrong side in height
and 10½ pounds in weight. At the National, on the other
hand, they are not up to the average to begin with and the
weights are worse all through, but the number examined
at the succeeding ages is small. The number examined at
the other schools is too small to make the detailed comparison
worth pursuing. The reason for this difference in
weight is difficult to explain. Is the urban child up to the
rural child in weight, or is there something in the life of the
Ilford children that places them in a worse position than
others?