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(b) History of other Illnesses and Family History.
This is still unsatisfactory owing to the number of parents
who do not attend at the medical inspections.
(c) Clothing and Footgear.
On the whole I am inclined to think that there is still
improvement in the condition of the clothing, particularly
amongst some of the older boys.
(d) Height and Weight.
As I pointed out last year one cannot regard these figures
with much satisfaction, as they represent such wide variations
in ages within the age periods as to be almost useless for
statistical purposes considering the small number of children
in each age group. In order to try and get some really accurate
figures I have arranged in certain of the schools for a
certain number of the children to be weighed on. their birthdays
and for some to be weighed once a month. This latter
proceeding I asked Mr. Hill, the Headmaster of Cottenham
Park School, to do, and I am indebted to him for the extremely
careful and accurate way in which this has been done, and the
results have shown that not only is the child's gain in weight
not a regular process, but that during the summer months,
up to the end of August, there is, not only in many cases very
little gain in weight, but in a certain number of cases the
weight remains quite stationary, and in a large proportion of
cases there is actual loss in weight during this period. Attention
has been drawn to the importance of keeping records of
the children's weights with the idea that if a child is losing,
or even is not gaining weight, it should be regarded as a
danger signal and should create suspicion of some under-lying
tubercular trouble. It was found that amongst these children
who did not gain weight, or actually lost weight, were some
whom one would class as amongst the most robust in the class.
On the other hand, amongst those who gained most weight a
very considerable proportion of them were those children who,
if one had been casually asked to pick out the poorest
developed and most likely subjects of tuberculosis, one would
have included in that category.
I have made arrangements to carry out this regular
weighing throughout the year in three different types of
schools.
The following table shows the average heights and weights
for boys and gills at the various ages in the different schools.
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