Health of Children

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 4, 23 May 1914, Page 5

Health of Children

REPORT liY MEDICAL IXSPEClfflfiiijl OF SCHOOLS. • \JM SO.ME STARTLING UIStIiOSUXI^M

(';.) 'f. •".Tiiph- -Press Association - <S Wellington, Last Ni^it^^S Some startling disclosures in connect! tion with the health of school children *l iu th'! district were inad»-a at to-days' meeting of tlio Educatiora| Board, when tilie medical inspector, ©T»*{l| Elizabeth Gunn, submitted her Teport'll on the hifpoction of nineteen of thl'S schools under the Board's jurisdiction.'s? She showed that in the case of sort* schools, 50 per cent, of the pupils suf»,.sj; fertx'l from malnutrition—in other won)*/ 3 from starvation.. This, of course, way 11 duo to the ignorance of the parentf.. A It was pointed out that many child-, ~st ren hurry over their breakfast, eat their 'A lunches on the way to school, and thai '& are thus practically condemned to eight "3jj or nine hours of fasting. The report '•?' disclosed an extremely serious state of ,i' ; sj affairs. "Nineteen schools were visit- $ ed," reports the inspector, "and 014 $ children were examined, of which 46 f^ were special cases. Four hundred and <■"■ seventy-eight children were examined In " * the ordinary routine, and of these only " 1 12 were found to have no defects; 238 M had defects other than dental, and the '< large number of 137 showed evidence of . -? malnutrition. The defects are ckssi- '^ fled as follows: Skin disease, 21 ; def<*.; % tive teeth, 232; obstructed breathing, % 131; enlarged glands, 110; external eye,tsj disease, 4; defective vision. 54; external i'^ ear disease, 2; defeetivp hearing, 66; de- if, fective speech, 9; non-vaccination, 2M;-",Sj circulatory disease, 7; respiratory dig, 'J ease, S; nervous disease, 1; tuberculosis, i V 3 (and 3 doubtful); stooped shoulders/'-.

91; curvature, 7; flat chest, 42; pigoWv' breast, 3.; other diseases, 10. - The report condenma the present style* i of ventilation in use in all the schools A.ii visited. "With regard to oountiy schools, where outhouses have the iwn system, and there is difficulty in getting ' "'i the pans emptied," proceeds the report, ' "I do not see why the elder boys and girls should not be taught how thli \ work should be done. The schooll ■; might be provided with white enamel i * buckets, easy to carry and easy to clean, and if the work is done each 7 week there is nothing disagreeable. At A the worst it is nothing compared with V some of the placeß in their own and surely if these children were taugbi how easy it is to keep such places j clean, and that it wag not necessary to dig a hole six feet deep, or to leave tht ground vacant for months afterwards, ■ -l they would improve their home Condi- j tions. A few simple directions mlrfif. . ; be sent to each teacher and to eadf i'* : school committee in the country place*. v and probnblv they would all profit by :■* such directions." The report, provoked considerable discassion, which was taken in committed ' ?r 5 Mr. ,1, 0. W. Aitken- moved—"That' the Department be informed that the Board considers thai the medical inspect " tion should be carried further, and that - % hints should be given to parents aa to '.ts the nature of the food which should be •'*& given to children." This ivas passed unanimously. , ■ fefi