[Report 1957] / School Medical Officer of Health, North Riding of Yorkshire County Council, Scarborough Divisional Executive.

  • North Riding of Yorkshire (England). County Council (Scarborough Divisional Executive)
Date:
1957
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1957] / School Medical Officer of Health, North Riding of Yorkshire County Council, Scarborough Divisional Executive. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    12/72 (page 10)
    Year Number of Pupils Inspected A Good 0/ /o B Fair o/ /o C Poor % 1948 20,360 25.52 70.35 4.14 1949 23,467 38.89 59.19 1.92 1950 23,593 48.61 49.90 1.49 1951 23,507 51.31 47.65 1.04 1952 24,059 54.66 44.32 1.02 1953 22,423 54.67 44.17 1.16 1954 23,723 56.70 42.59 .71 1955 24,173 58.33 41.14 satisfactory .53 unsatisfactory 1956 20,341 •— 99.19 .81 1957 26,202 “ ■ * 99.56 .44 Nevertheless, it should not be overlooked that these figures are largely based on subjective evidence. Furthermore, the fact that 99.56% of children examined in 1957 were found to be in a satisfactory nutritional state does not mean that nearly all children were free of disease or defect. On the contrary, nearly all individuals have some disease of defect, mental or physical, and the hapless school medical officer must decide, subject¬ ively and for statistical reasons, which defects are intolerable. In this context Dr. Schroeder points out that defects can be found for the looking—“ in examining 18 boys in a “ B ” class at West Cliff School, 4 pairs of ear drums seemed to be absolutely satisfactory, 14 of the boys had at least one drum either lustreless, puckered, scarred or obstructed by wax ”. It is easy to see on this score alone how many of the anomalies which have been quoted in denigration of the school health service have come about. Moreover, subjective standards are not exclusively the prerogative of the school health service. School medical officers, acting in another capacity, frequently examine for superannuation purposes adults who have been rejected for national service yet who have, functionally, shown little or no defect. Another aspect of the classification of general condition is raised by Dr. Nettleton who feels that more attention should be paid to the problem of obesity in children. In his opinion the obese state is as much an “ unsatisfactory ” condition as that of the child who is thin and under¬ nourished and he is able to quote, in support of this view, the opinion of Dr. Hubble who wrote “ Obesity should be regarded, in the young as in adults, as a disease to be cured, and the persistence of obesity to adoles¬ cence and beyond represents a failure of paediatric care