The Feeding of School Children

by M. E. Bulkley

[457]. Ibid., p. 1.

[458]. Ibid., p. 26.

[459]. Hansard, April 10, 1913, Vol. 51, p. 1381; The Health and Physique of School Children, by Arthur Greenwood, 1913, p. 48.

[460]. Ibid., p. 50.

[461]. "The Medical Examination of School Children," by Dr. A. S. Arkle, a paper read at the North of England Education Conference, January, 1907 (reprinted in School Government Chronicle, Supplement, January 12, 1907, pp. 77, 89). As we have already said, the nutrition cannot be determined solely by weight. "In fact," as a School Medical Officer points out, "an ill-nourished child may be above the average weight, or, on the other hand, a healthy child may be much under the average and yet not be ill-nourished." (Report of the School Medical Officer for Leeds for 1910, p. 27.) But when dealing with large numbers of children, the average weight furnishes a reliable index of nutrition.

[462]. Report by Dr. Leslie Mackenzie and Captain A. Foster, on the Physical Condition of Children attending the Public Schools of the School Board of Glasgow, 1907, p. v.

[463]. Report of the School Medical Officer for East Ham for 1911, p. 56.

[464]. Ibid., p. 57.

[465]. The School Medical Officer for Cumberland found that whilst, at the age of 3 to 4, 28·4 per cent. of the boys and 38·7 per cent. of the girls were classified as good, "the percentages diminish gradually till at the age of 7 to 8 they are only 12·8 and 15·9, but from 20·4 and 29·7 at the age of 12 to 13 they gradually rise to 36·0 and 34·6 at the age of 14 to 15. Probably in most cases the condition of the teeth is responsible for this falling off in condition. In the early years of life, before the teeth begin to go bad, the nutrition is good, but gradually gets worse as time goes on and more teeth decay, but nutrition again improves after the eruption of the permanent teeth, which, of course, are in the majority of cases sound for some little time." (Report of the School Medical Officer for Cumberland for 1911, p. 20.)

[466]. "The cleanliness of the houses and especially of the bedrooms ... has an important bearing on nutrition." (Report of the School Medical Officer for Congleton for 1911, p. 4.) A School Medical Officer in London told us that if a child improved in the point of cleanliness there was a marked improvement also in nutrition.