[Report 1930] / School Medical Officer of Health, Leeds City.

  • Leeds City Council
Date:
1930
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1930] / School Medical Officer of Health, Leeds City. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    36/74 (page 34)
    Special Examinations Respiratory Disease and Altitude of Schools Weights During the year 52 examinations or re-examinations were made for the purpose of certifying children for the stage. When children are routine examined at the leaving age, the Medical Officers complete a certificate as to the nature of the employ¬ ment most suitable for the child, namely— Suitable for Any Employment Outdoor Employment Light Employment, i.e., clerical work, etc. These certificates are retained by the teachers until the children leave school when they are handed to them so that they may be produced to the Factory Surgeon or Juvenile Employment Bureau. It is of the utmost importance that these certificates be handed over by the teachers as they form an important link between the School Medical Service and the employing agency. The following special examinations have been carried out by the medical officers during the year—Examinations under the Local Government and other Officers Superannuation Act, 1922; examination of candidates for scholarships; examination of children employed during school hours; examination of children for licences to take part in public entertainments, and of those pro¬ ceeding to the School Camp at Ilklev. Since the year 1925, an attempt has been made to ascertain whether the children attending lower lying schools are more affected by respiratory disease than those attending higher altitude schools. The return for each annual period indicates that the children in the lower lying schools are more adversely affected by bronchitis and other lung conditions than those attending the schools of a higher altitude. The returns for the past year also bear out this conclusion, for the total number of chest defects found in children attending low lying schools was 114 as compared with 32 at the higher altitude schools, the percentage of defects to the number of children examined being 9-2 as compared with 2-5. The number of cases of tuberculosis of lungs was 4 in the lower and 2 in the higher altitude schools; suspected tuberculosis was also double in the lower lying schools as compared with the higher. As these returns now extend over a period of six years, the results are of considerable import as showing the greater prevalence of respiratory diseases in the lower lying districts. As the numbers of children weighed at the ages of five, eight, and twelve years are considerable and are greater than at any other individual age period, comparison can with advantage be made at each of these periods and with the standard adopted,