Report on the public health / Southern Rhodesia.

  • Southern Rhodesia. Department of Health.
Date:
[1929]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the public health / Southern Rhodesia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    54/88 (page 48)
    Teeth for Treatment.—Amongst those children inspected and awaiting treatment, including those who have received emergency treatment, it is found that 5,275 teeth yet remain to be attended to. Cleanliness.—In one boarding school, where toothbrush drill is enforced regularly, a marked improvement was at once apparent on examination of the mouths of the children. It is hoped that we shall be able to make super¬ intendents of hostels, etc., more keen and enthusiastic on this important portion of boarding school routine. Diet.—Continued attention has been paid to the dietaries provided at the various school hostels, but the time is now ripe for a general enquiry into the suitability of the different foodstuffs for children in this country, with especial regard to the relationship of diet and climate. Meanwhile an instruction has been issued requiring that all children in Government hostels should have 1J pints of milk each day, since of all foods milk is the one natural product that contains all the proximate principals of a well-balanced diet. There is an unfortunate tendency, not confined entirely to the rural districts, for parents to give their children an excess of starchy foods, and especially of mealie meal. Green vegetables, milk, and fruit at certain seasons of the year, are readily obtainable in this country, and poverty is not a sufficient reason to excuse ill-balanced dieting. School Buildings and Furniture.—While it is a pleasure to report that the new school buildings and hostels for the most part exhibit a commendable approach to modern hygienic standards, it must also be noted that fault is to be found with a considerable proportion of the farm schools scattered throughout the Colony. Only too frequently in the rural districts do children spend nearly five hours of each school day in an old building used at other times for farmers’ meetings and various local activities; difficult to keep clean on account of the roughness of the walls and flooring, draughty from the poor condition of walls and windows, insufficiently lighted, and with inadequate washing and sanitary accommodation—such is a true picture of several of the farm schools visited by me during 1929. Until such buildings can be replaced by modern school houses it is im¬ possible to look for any marked improvement in the health of our rural school children, and in the planning of such new buildings it is essential that certain standards should be adhered to. Deaths of Children of School Age.—The following table gives the causes of deaths occurring among school children during the year. The death rate among such children was 3.5 per 1,000, a figure slightly higher than that found in England and Wales, but this is due to the number of deaths caused by infections not common in more temperate zones. TABLE XV. Cause of Death. Boys. Girls. Enteric fever 1 1 Black water fever 3 • • • Malaria 1 1 Cerebro-spinal meningitis 3 2 Meningitis ... 1 ... Tubercular meningitis . . . 1 Pulmonary tuberculosis . . . 1 Pneumonia ... 2 1 Septicaemia... 2 ... Pyaemia ... 1 Chorea • . . 1 Rheumatic endocarditis • . • 1 Valvular heart disease 1 . . . Acute tonsilitis . . . 1 Dropsy . . - 1 Lymphadenoma 1 ... Sarcoma of glands and spine ... 1 • • • Totals ... 16 12 C. C. P. ANNING, 10th February, 1930. Medical Inspector of Schools.