Nutrition and Food Supplies
1936-09 1936 1930s 33 pages : illustration the number of children returned as suffering from malnutrition, requiring treatment or observation, but states: “The massed return for 1934, compiled from figures submitted by 316 Education Authorities, shows that the conditions of nutrition of s...
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| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
| Language: | English English |
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London : The Labour Party
September 1936
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/7F459904-316C-4996-9B5E-042CB11977FE http://hdl.handle.net/10796/B9A7FB32-9072-4147-B283-E019386E80DC |
| Summary: | 1936-09
1936
1930s
33 pages : illustration
the number of children returned as suffering from malnutrition, requiring treatment or observation, but states: “The massed return for 1934, compiled from figures submitted by 316 Education Authorities, shows that the conditions of nutrition of school children throughout England and Wales remains practically stationary and shows no general deterioration.” Lack of Objective Standard The value of official statistics relating to the nutrition of school children must be questioned. In the first place there is no generally accepted standard for assessing malnutrition, and the Chief Medical Officer has to collate observations which represent the personal views and judgment of a large number of local Medical Officers. Discrepancies in the standards adopted are revealed by comparisons of figures from various areas: a point which is the subject of frequent comment. “In England, the diagnosis of malnutrition in schools is based on clinical examination, and the subjective element which enters into the assessment is illustrated by the following: Bootle (which is for all practical purposes an integral part of greater Liverpool) returns a malnutrition rate twelve times as high as Liverpool itself; Leeds and Wigan, containing very similar industrial populations, return rates of 31 and 9 per 1,000 respectively; the relatively prosperous borough of Twickenham returns a rate of 10 per 1,000.” (Report on “Nutrition and Public Health,” League of Nations, June, 1935). Further, in the absence of a common standard, there is a danger that where the average standard of health is low, the average will be regarded as the normal, with the result that a lower percentage of malnutrition is reported than would be the case if a high standard were adopted. Difficulty of Early Detection Finally, the difficulty of detecting any but the more obvious signs of malnutrition, particularly in a brief routine examination, must be emphasised. Height and weight tests may reveal no departure from the normal, until long after the damage has set in. “The effects of malnutrition due to poverty may only become apparent after a long interval; a child whose diet contains too high a proportion of cheap carbo-hydrates may retain a 5
127/NU/5/5/1/12 |
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |