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The health of the school child
PUBLIC HEALTH THE JOURNAL OF
T H E SOCIETY OF M E D I C A L O F F I C E R S OF H E A L T H . No. 5. Vol. XLIV. FEBRUARY, 1931. PUBLIC H E A L T H , the O~cial Organ of the Society of Medical Officers of Health, is prepared to receive a certain number of approved advertisements. Application should be made to the Executive Secretary of the Society, at I, Upper Montague Street, Russell Square, London, W.C.1. • Subscription price 31s. 6d. per annum, post free in advance. Single Copies, 2s. 6d. post free.
Contents. EDITORIAL--
PAGE
T h e H e a h h of the S c h o o l C h i l d ... ...... T u b e r c u l o s i s in M a n and the L o w e r A n i m a l s Post-Vaceinal Encephalitis ......... " The Truth About Cancer " ......... The British Social Hygiene Council ...... The President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A P r o f e s s i o n f o r the B l i n d ......... Obituary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
129 130 132 132 132 lab lab 133
SPECIAL ARTICLES-Undulant F e v e r . B y D . S. RA~BAGL1ATI, O.B.E., B.SC,, F.R.C.V.S., "D.V.S.M., C h i e f V e t e r i n a r y Officer, West Riding (Yorkshire) County Council; and S i r WF~LDON DALRYMPLI~;-CHAMPNEYS~ BART., M.A.~ M.D., M.R.C.P., D.P.H., a M e d i c a l O f f i c e r of t h e M i n i s t r y of H e a l t h . . . . . . . . . . . . Ut Ira Dicarn. B e i n g C o m m e n t s , a p r o p o s a n d o t h e r wise, on Sundry Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . Health Propaganda Methods. B y JOHN MACmLLAN, D.S,O,~ M.C,~ M,I~*~ Ctt.B.~ GLASG.~ D,P,H,~ M e d i c a l Officer of Health, Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PAGE SOCIETY O F MEDICAL OFFICERS O F O r d i n a r y M e e t i n g . . . .... . . . . . . . The Metropolitan Branch ......... The North-Western Branch ......... T h e W e l s h B r a n c h . . . .... . . . . . . . The Home Counties Branch ......... The East Midland Branch ......... The Tuberculosis Group . . . . . . . . . .
HEALTH-. 150 150 lbl . 154 156 156 . . 157
THE LITERATURE OF PREVENTIVE M E D I C 1 N E ~
135 145
T h e D i a g n o s i s of M e n t a l D e f i c i e n c ) ...... Epidemiological Essays . . . . . . . . . . . . A C o m p e n d i u m of A i d s t o F i r s t - A i d Accidents and Emergencies--Their Signs, Symptoms and " First-Aid " Treatment ...... H o m e N u r s i n g in F e w W o r d s . . . . . . . . . M a n u a l of M o d e r n C o o k e r y ......... In the A n n u a l R e p o r t s . . . . . . . . . . . .
158 158 159 159 159 159 159
CORRESPONDENCE~ 14~7
Safe
Milk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
160
Editorial. The Health of the School Child. N F A I L I N G L Y attractive, the report of Sir George Newman, as Chief Medical Officer of the Board of Education, for 1929 * gives the impression o.f being more attractive than ever. The press it has received, and is still receiving, is an excellent one, the points seized upo.n by the writers being, most of them, such as it is satisfactory to all concerned with the health and school medical service to see brought prominently before the public. For the in'creased attractiveness of the report, as for the close and useful attention it has received, it is safe to claim the method of arrangement and setting out of the material as responsible. On this occasion these are new, and definitely it has paid to depart from
U
* H.M.
Stationery
Office.
Price
2s.
net.
the old method of presentation of the data of the work of the school medical service, and to confine the report itself to four brief chapters dealing with the principal facts and tendencies of the service, and to make an appendix of the statistical tables and of special notes on particular subjects. In this way the general reader is given what Sir George Newman is right in supposing he wants---a bird's eye vie~ 'of the work and the trend of the service, while tile specialist can turn to the appendix for the more technical details which it may be presumed he desires. W i t h regard to the contents of the appendix, it may be claimed for them that they are intensely practical, and that the subjects discussed are those on which the specialist who is serious in his desire to see and help pro~ress would wish to have further information. Appendix A, containing the
13o
PUBLIC HEALTH.
story of the school medical service, tells of real and steady progress, and is as well worth study by those who have recently joined the service as by those who. have seen and helped in its growth. In it there is reference to the need for health education, a subject on which a great deal is said in the report proper, and in respect of which Sir George Newman has one of tlie few complaints he finds it necessary to make. Other special notes deal with nursery schools; infective diseases and mortality in sehoo.1 children; rheumatism in childhood, and external eye .diseases, all of them matters upon which information and guidance and the experience of others are desired by medical officers. The chapter on the provision of school meals is good and practical and deserves study, as does the appendix in which a detailed list of the special inquiries and investigations is given. Sir George Newman's suggestion that every school medical officer should study it with great care and meticulous criticism is sound, and having regard to the contents of the list there is every reason why the advice should be italicized. The four chapters of what is named the report proper are titled in such a way as to. bring before the general reader the matters that Sir Geo.rge Newman, with his great and intimate knowledge of the people, thinks should claim his attention. In the first, " The School Medical Service in 1929," a quick, sweeping glance of the field generally is given: methods of investigation and general schemes are described, as well as certain special inquiries and special methods of treatment. T o find the information he desires to put before his general reader., Sir George .does not limit himself to reports submitted by members of the service to their authorities, but picks o~t contributions by these officers to. the medical press or at meetings of societies. The subject of child guidance clinics, for example, is dealt with in such a way as to bring in references to discussions at the Royal Sanitary Institute Congress, taken part in by Dr. Letitia Fairfield and others, and to reports on the question by the Jewish Health Organisation of Great Britain. The second and third chapters in the report deal with the teaching of hygiene in schools and the school dental service. Each of these has provided a fruitful field for reference by writers in the specialist and general press. The disappointment of Sir George Newman at the response to the very strong desire, evinced by himself and the Board of
FEBRUARY,
Education, to see local education authorities throughout the country ~undertake health teaching seriously is very obvious and real. It is well founded, too, and it may be hoped that this chapter will be one very widely read by the general public, and that it may induce in many a desire to see that the advantages such education offers are provided in their own area. The most important part of the chapter on the school dental service is concerned with a .discussion .of the findings of Mr. A. T. Pitts in the detailed inspection carried out by him of the arrangements for dental inspection and treatment in the areas of ten representative local education authorities. The fact that the dental scheme at present in existence covers less than half the ground is one that has caused a considerable amount of perturbation in many minds; secondary only to that aroused by the suggestion that to. obtain a complete service might involve an immediate additional cost of £680,000, rising steadily to about £!,400,000. The discussion of the possibility of taking steps with a view- to. preventing" dental disease, with the references to the work of Mrs. Mellanby, is such as will be certain to interest the general reader. Of the whole of the report proper this, indeed, may be said, as it may be said also that it is doubtful if the general reader anywhere at any time has had put before him so clearly and so. attractively the resuIts .of investigatio.ns and inquiries b y any section of the health service, or so readably discussed the problems that these inquiries and investigations have shown to call for solutio.n. Sir George Newman has earned the gratitude of, and deserves to be congratulated by, every member of the school medical service on account of his " Health of the School Child " for 1929.
Tuberculosis in Man and t[~e Lower Animals. N Y treatise on tuberculosis, whether it be in man or in animals, must be of particular and absorbing interest to members of the public health service, for despite a great accumulation o.f facts about the disease and the considerable extent of the knowledge with regard to it, it must be admitted that there are many pheno.mena as yet unexplained, and still much to be learnt concerning the condition. For these reasons the essay of Dr. H . Harold Scott discussing the question of tuberculosis in man and the lower animals, recently pub-
A
T H E SOCIETY OF M E D I C A L O F F I C E R S OF H E A L T H . No. 5. Vol. XLIV. FEBRUARY, 1931. PUBLIC H E A L T H , the O~cial Organ of the Society of Medical Officers of Health, is prepared to receive a certain number of approved advertisements. Application should be made to the Executive Secretary of the Society, at I, Upper Montague Street, Russell Square, London, W.C.1. • Subscription price 31s. 6d. per annum, post free in advance. Single Copies, 2s. 6d. post free.
Contents. EDITORIAL--
PAGE
T h e H e a h h of the S c h o o l C h i l d ... ...... T u b e r c u l o s i s in M a n and the L o w e r A n i m a l s Post-Vaceinal Encephalitis ......... " The Truth About Cancer " ......... The British Social Hygiene Council ...... The President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A P r o f e s s i o n f o r the B l i n d ......... Obituary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
129 130 132 132 132 lab lab 133
SPECIAL ARTICLES-Undulant F e v e r . B y D . S. RA~BAGL1ATI, O.B.E., B.SC,, F.R.C.V.S., "D.V.S.M., C h i e f V e t e r i n a r y Officer, West Riding (Yorkshire) County Council; and S i r WF~LDON DALRYMPLI~;-CHAMPNEYS~ BART., M.A.~ M.D., M.R.C.P., D.P.H., a M e d i c a l O f f i c e r of t h e M i n i s t r y of H e a l t h . . . . . . . . . . . . Ut Ira Dicarn. B e i n g C o m m e n t s , a p r o p o s a n d o t h e r wise, on Sundry Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . Health Propaganda Methods. B y JOHN MACmLLAN, D.S,O,~ M.C,~ M,I~*~ Ctt.B.~ GLASG.~ D,P,H,~ M e d i c a l Officer of Health, Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PAGE SOCIETY O F MEDICAL OFFICERS O F O r d i n a r y M e e t i n g . . . .... . . . . . . . The Metropolitan Branch ......... The North-Western Branch ......... T h e W e l s h B r a n c h . . . .... . . . . . . . The Home Counties Branch ......... The East Midland Branch ......... The Tuberculosis Group . . . . . . . . . .
HEALTH-. 150 150 lbl . 154 156 156 . . 157
THE LITERATURE OF PREVENTIVE M E D I C 1 N E ~
135 145
T h e D i a g n o s i s of M e n t a l D e f i c i e n c ) ...... Epidemiological Essays . . . . . . . . . . . . A C o m p e n d i u m of A i d s t o F i r s t - A i d Accidents and Emergencies--Their Signs, Symptoms and " First-Aid " Treatment ...... H o m e N u r s i n g in F e w W o r d s . . . . . . . . . M a n u a l of M o d e r n C o o k e r y ......... In the A n n u a l R e p o r t s . . . . . . . . . . . .
158 158 159 159 159 159 159
CORRESPONDENCE~ 14~7
Safe
Milk
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
160
Editorial. The Health of the School Child. N F A I L I N G L Y attractive, the report of Sir George Newman, as Chief Medical Officer of the Board of Education, for 1929 * gives the impression o.f being more attractive than ever. The press it has received, and is still receiving, is an excellent one, the points seized upo.n by the writers being, most of them, such as it is satisfactory to all concerned with the health and school medical service to see brought prominently before the public. For the in'creased attractiveness of the report, as for the close and useful attention it has received, it is safe to claim the method of arrangement and setting out of the material as responsible. On this occasion these are new, and definitely it has paid to depart from
U
* H.M.
Stationery
Office.
Price
2s.
net.
the old method of presentation of the data of the work of the school medical service, and to confine the report itself to four brief chapters dealing with the principal facts and tendencies of the service, and to make an appendix of the statistical tables and of special notes on particular subjects. In this way the general reader is given what Sir George Newman is right in supposing he wants---a bird's eye vie~ 'of the work and the trend of the service, while tile specialist can turn to the appendix for the more technical details which it may be presumed he desires. W i t h regard to the contents of the appendix, it may be claimed for them that they are intensely practical, and that the subjects discussed are those on which the specialist who is serious in his desire to see and help pro~ress would wish to have further information. Appendix A, containing the
13o
PUBLIC HEALTH.
story of the school medical service, tells of real and steady progress, and is as well worth study by those who have recently joined the service as by those who. have seen and helped in its growth. In it there is reference to the need for health education, a subject on which a great deal is said in the report proper, and in respect of which Sir George Newman has one of tlie few complaints he finds it necessary to make. Other special notes deal with nursery schools; infective diseases and mortality in sehoo.1 children; rheumatism in childhood, and external eye .diseases, all of them matters upon which information and guidance and the experience of others are desired by medical officers. The chapter on the provision of school meals is good and practical and deserves study, as does the appendix in which a detailed list of the special inquiries and investigations is given. Sir George Newman's suggestion that every school medical officer should study it with great care and meticulous criticism is sound, and having regard to the contents of the list there is every reason why the advice should be italicized. The four chapters of what is named the report proper are titled in such a way as to. bring before the general reader the matters that Sir Geo.rge Newman, with his great and intimate knowledge of the people, thinks should claim his attention. In the first, " The School Medical Service in 1929," a quick, sweeping glance of the field generally is given: methods of investigation and general schemes are described, as well as certain special inquiries and special methods of treatment. T o find the information he desires to put before his general reader., Sir George .does not limit himself to reports submitted by members of the service to their authorities, but picks o~t contributions by these officers to. the medical press or at meetings of societies. The subject of child guidance clinics, for example, is dealt with in such a way as to bring in references to discussions at the Royal Sanitary Institute Congress, taken part in by Dr. Letitia Fairfield and others, and to reports on the question by the Jewish Health Organisation of Great Britain. The second and third chapters in the report deal with the teaching of hygiene in schools and the school dental service. Each of these has provided a fruitful field for reference by writers in the specialist and general press. The disappointment of Sir George Newman at the response to the very strong desire, evinced by himself and the Board of
FEBRUARY,
Education, to see local education authorities throughout the country ~undertake health teaching seriously is very obvious and real. It is well founded, too, and it may be hoped that this chapter will be one very widely read by the general public, and that it may induce in many a desire to see that the advantages such education offers are provided in their own area. The most important part of the chapter on the school dental service is concerned with a .discussion .of the findings of Mr. A. T. Pitts in the detailed inspection carried out by him of the arrangements for dental inspection and treatment in the areas of ten representative local education authorities. The fact that the dental scheme at present in existence covers less than half the ground is one that has caused a considerable amount of perturbation in many minds; secondary only to that aroused by the suggestion that to. obtain a complete service might involve an immediate additional cost of £680,000, rising steadily to about £!,400,000. The discussion of the possibility of taking steps with a view- to. preventing" dental disease, with the references to the work of Mrs. Mellanby, is such as will be certain to interest the general reader. Of the whole of the report proper this, indeed, may be said, as it may be said also that it is doubtful if the general reader anywhere at any time has had put before him so clearly and so. attractively the resuIts .of investigatio.ns and inquiries b y any section of the health service, or so readably discussed the problems that these inquiries and investigations have shown to call for solutio.n. Sir George Newman has earned the gratitude of, and deserves to be congratulated by, every member of the school medical service on account of his " Health of the School Child " for 1929.
Tuberculosis in Man and t[~e Lower Animals. N Y treatise on tuberculosis, whether it be in man or in animals, must be of particular and absorbing interest to members of the public health service, for despite a great accumulation o.f facts about the disease and the considerable extent of the knowledge with regard to it, it must be admitted that there are many pheno.mena as yet unexplained, and still much to be learnt concerning the condition. For these reasons the essay of Dr. H . Harold Scott discussing the question of tuberculosis in man and the lower animals, recently pub-
A