[Report 1934] / Medical Officer of Health, Bournemouth County Borough.

  • Bournemouth (England). County Borough Council. nb2004301338.
Date:
1934
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1934] / Medical Officer of Health, Bournemouth County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    81/98 (page 79)
    It will be ap])arent that the teachers have sliouldered a burden—in large departments a very heavy one—when accei)t • ing responsibility for such a scheme whicli lias advantages and disadvantages. Presumably most parents realise that the children are fortunate to be able to obtain ri pint of milk for .Id., and vet approximately only a half of the scholars are availing them- selves of the facilities. It is sometimes said that cold milk does not suit individual children, and it must be admitted that when the numbers are considerable it is not possible to warm the milk adequately. It is questionable, too, whether it is desirable for the children to spend time indoors consuming milk when they might be having fresh air and recreation in the playground. There are other aspects of the scheme, but on the whole the advantages seem to be greater than the disadvantages. From the official point of view a technical gain has been obtained, inasmuch as it has been stipulated that all the milk shall be pasteurised and labelled as such. Hitherto, much of the milk distributed in the area has been pasteurised but not so described on the bottle. In other words, the scheme has had the effect of increasing the number of dairymen licensed to sell pasteurised milk. Free milk has been supplied by the Education Committee to the extent of 898 bottles granted to 47 children. This relates to the last three months of the year only. Each of these child- ren was submitted to a medical examination, although it is not always possible for a Medical Officer to do justice to the case on purely medical grounds. A Teacher or Attendance Officer with a knowledge of home conditions is sometimes in a better position to make a recommendation. The Children Care Committee has also granted meals as follows ;— Total number of mid-day meals supplied to necessitous children from January 1st to December 31st, 1934 2332 Number of individual children ... ... ... 25 Quantity of milk provided for necessitous children (pints) 1959 Number of individual childreu ... ... ... 20 Total number of individual children provided with meals and/or milk 42