H—3l

Nutrition would seem to be back to its pre-war average level of about 5 per cent, of subnormal nutrition in our children (pre-school, 6*7 per cent.; school-children, 5-08 per cent. ; Maori children, 4-75 per cent.). Posture has improved to this extent, that, while the slight impairments remains high, about one child in three being affected in the school years, the gross defects are almost halved from the previous year. The amount of goitre in the child population continues to decline in pre-school, school, and Maori children. In European school-children there was a new low Level of 349 per cent. ; in these children ten years ago 15-12 per cent, of goitre was reported. This fall is gratifying, and undoubtedly the result of health education effecting the increasing and continuous use of iodized salt in the community.

Table 16 —The Medical State of Primary-school Children

32

— European. Maori. Number. Percentage. Number. Percentage. Number of children examined 100,861 9,247 Number of children found to have defects 30,942 30-67 3,969 42-92 Number with defects other than dental 24,522 24-31 2,761 29-85 Children showing evidence of — Subnormal nutrition 5,125 5-08 440 4-75 Skin-diseases 1,929 1-91 843 9-11 Heart and lungs (European, 48,340 ; Maori, 843) — Heart — Organic disease 262 0-54 17 0-20 Functional disease 626 1-30 53 0-63 Respiratory disease 600 1-20 34 4-0S Posture— Slight impairment 36,757 36-44 2,519 27-24 Gross defect 274 2-.72 123 1-33 Deformities of trunk and chest 1,325 1-31 98 0-10 Mouth — Defect of jaw or palate 4,315 4-27 127 1-37 . Dental caries 7,146 6-08 1,760 19 -oa Extractions of permanent teeth 433 0-42 109 117 Fillings 75,101 74-45 5,824 63-00 Perfect sets of teeth 4,321 4-28 654 7-07. Gums : Gingivitis or pyorrhoea 321 0-31 202 2-18 Nose and throat — Nasal obstruction 2,790 2-76 115 1-23 Enlarged tonsils 9,934 9-84 1,080 11-67 Goitre— Incipient .. .. 3,104 3-07 102 1-10 Small 411 0-41 27 0-29 Medium or large 15 0-01 3 0-00$ Total amount of goitre 3,530 3-49 132 1-42 EyeExternal eye-disease 529 0-52 66 0-71 Squints 331 0-33 11 0-11 Defective vision—• Uncorrected 2,408 2-38 288 3-11 Corrected 1,609 1-59 37 0-40 Ear— Otorrhcea 120 0-11 77 0-83 Defective hearing 273 0-27 84 0-90 Defective speech 444 0-44 21 0-22 Mental— Retardate 205 0-20 22 0-23 Feeblemindedness 139 0-13 1 0-01 Epilepsy .. 17 0-16 1 0-01 Nervous defects 403 0-39 6 0-06 Digestive system defects 113 0-11 Phimosis 77 0-07 1 0-01 Undescended testicles 349 0-34 38 0-41 Number of parents present at medical examination .. 31.602 31-33 885 9-57