MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13737, 19 May 1910, Page 4

MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOL CHILDREN.

. « REPORT OX EAST CHRISTCHURCH . SCHOOL. At the meeting oi the North Canterbury Education Board yesterday tho following letter from the Canterbury District Health Officer regarding the medical inspection of East Christchurch State -School was road: "To Secretary North Canterbury Education Board. I» reply to your memo, of April 11 th, I beg xo inform you that a report on the medical examination of school children in the East Christchurch School Trtis -sent by mc to the Chief Health Officer in January, and that the report has since been under ccjisiderat-ion. with a view to devising a scheme suit-able for the Dominion for the medical examination of school children. The Chief Health Officer has iiott requested mc to supply you with a summary of the report, and to asl-yc-ur Board if it would kindly appoint .1 committee to discuss with mc tlie details of a scheme from the educational point of view for the medical examination of school children. I he__ to express my thanks to the Ro?rd and to the headmaster and teachers of the Erst Christchurch -'chool for the facilities and assistance rendered mc in carrying out the examination. 1 The following is the summary of the medical examination :— Tho' examination wa.s confined to the fourth, fifth, and sixth standards, and wa.s carried out on December 13th. IKb. loth and 17th, in ordinary school hours. Tn Table 1 will be found the statistics of the average height, weight, and chest measurement. The numbers are too few to give a true average that can be compared with other statistics, but. so far as they go, they are satisfactory. Table 2 gives tho proportion of sound and decayed teeth in .Standard IV. girls. Three hundred and twenty-two children were dealt, with comprising 171 males and 151 females. The teachers selected 61 of these children for my examination : 14 for having defective .sight, 17 for defective hearing, and 13 for defective breathing, and the remainder for various other reasons. Of the 322 children. I passed 184 as being in absolute good health. Of the 138 children left 1 passed 71 as being in good health but having some other defect, and 07 _s being in fair general health, whether or not they had some other defect. Of tho 138 children thus selected, 1 found 12 to have defective hearing, G8 to bo suffering from adenoids, 35 -were found to have such a deficit in eyesight as to render further examination distinctly advkabk*. Whereas 13 children had been under medical treatment for disease of thc ear, nose or throat, only 3 had had their eyesight examined.by a medical man. I found no cas© ot disease of the heart or lungs.

Generally speaking, it would appear that although the general staudard of health was found to he good, there, are a small number of cases of disease of the ear, nose and threat, but relatively a large number of cases of defective eyesight, which require medical attention. H. E. I INCH, District Health Officer. Department of Public Health, Christchurch, April 26th, 1910." The following tables were appended, . giving the average height, weight, and chest girth (chest deflated): — BOYS. Number Ages. Examined. Height. Weight. Chest.* inches. lbs. inches. •10 10 5*2.95 63.10 21.63 . 11 42 55.75 71.30 Jg.57 '12 42 SG.IG 77.13 26.0G , 13 52 5G.05 82.53 2G.52 ' 14 30 59.75 91.88 • 27.27 *The number examined for chest-.measure-' ment was 8, 39, 37, 51, and 29, at th. mpe.-..---tivc, ages.- ■■'■•--. - GIRL'S. ' " 7.,7; 10 8• , 53.62 ~ C 8.25 23.95 ' ! " : 11 33- 55.00 70.81 24.G4 12 41 57.18 77.43 25.95----13 51 • • 5C.97 85.99 . 2G.-0----14 29 59.G2 91.83 27.03 "The numbers examined for chest measurement \frere 10, 37, 47, 51, and 30,.. at the ■ respective «ge_.. '-• / TEETH OF STANDARD IV. GIRLS. A table showing tho number of sound _ and decayed teeth in the mouth of each girl in Standard IV. . .wns furnished. There weie 83 girls, and the total number of teeth possessed by them wtyo 2G54. Of this number 1839 were sound teeth, and 215. decayed. There were 13 girls with no decayed teeth, 18 with one decayed, 19 with two decayed, 11 with three decayed, 8 with four decayed, 5 with five decayed, 4 with six decayed, 1 with seven decayed, 1 with eight decayed, 2 with nine decayed, and 1 with twelve decayed.

The report was remitted to the Special Committee set up ia order to report to th© Board.