Report of Committee on Children to the Council of British Medical Assocation.

  • Warner, Francis, 1847-1926.
Date:
[1894]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of Committee on Children to the Council of British Medical Assocation. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

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    Reprinted from the British Medical Journal, July 28th, 1894. w REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON CHILDREN TO THE COUNCIL OF BRITISH MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. Youb Committee appointed to investigate the physical and mental condition of school children have carried on the work in conjunction with the Committee appointed by the International Congress of Hygiene. A report is now pre- sented to you on 50,000 children—hoys, 26,287; girls, 23,713— seen individually in sixty-three schools by Dr. Francis Warner from June, 1892, to May, 1894. The large amount of tabulated information now gained has made it possible to prepare a list of the signs or abnormal points observed in children classed in divisions representing the conditions of children, with the number of children pre- senting each defect respectively. A catalogue giving defini- nition or description of these signs or conditions, together with the number of children presenting each condition, represents this portion of the work as far as it has been carried out. A card has been prepared for each of the children noted as presenting a defect, and represents the condition of the individuals—boys, 5,112 ; girls, 3,829. These cards are being arranged in groups as to social class, nationality, town or country, etc., and results tabulated by actuarial processes. The relations of mental dulness, low nutrition, defects in development, and nerve conditions among the different groups of children are being investigated, and will be published. The work done and results so far as they have been obtained point strongly to the desirability of com- pleting the investigation of 100,000 children, of whom half have been seen, and preparing a complete report from which conclusions may be drawn. Many of the most important groups of cases are small in number. A Catalogue giving Definition or Description of the Signs or Abnormal Points observed in 50,000 Children and Registered. A. Defects in Development.—The term includes any point of defect in the form, proportion, or size in the body and its parts or their absence. Cases : Boys, 2,308 ; girls, 1,618. Al. Cranium Defective includes any defect in size, form, proportions, or ossification of the cranium. A given case may come under more than one of the classes below. As to a standard of normal size : In a well-developed child of good potentiality the head circumference at 9th month is 17.J inches, at 12 months 19 inches, at 7 years 20 to 21 inches. This is a rather high standard of size. Boys, 706; girls, 622.