H—3l

DIVISION OF CHILD HYGIENE Health supervision of children was maintained by medical officers and District Nurses, and both doctors and nurses undertook health educational work among children, parent-teacher groups, mothers' clubs, and adult groups of many kinds.

The Medical State of the Primary-school Children

19

European. Maori. Number. Percentage. Number. Percentage. Number of children examined 83,599 9,412 Number of children found to have defects 31,963 38-23 3,174 33-72 Number with defects other than dental 23,048 27-56 2,750 29-21 Children showing evidence of— Subnormal nutrition 7,318 8-75 624 6-62 Skin-diseases .. 1,432 1-71 1,379 14-65 Heart and lungs (European 41,845, Maori 677, examined) — Heart— Organic disease 190 0-45 1 0-14 Functional disease 499 1-19 5 0-73 Respiratory disease 407 0-97 6 0-88 Posture— Slight impairment 29,411 35-18 2,413 25-63 Gross defect 4,107 4-91 283 3-00 Deformities of trunk and chest 1,409 1-68 121 1-28 Mouth Defect of jaw or palate 5,376 6-43 126 1-33 Dental caries 8,441 10-09 1,522 16-17 Extractions of permanent teeth 697 0-83 191 2-02 Fillings 65,354 78-17 5,037 53-51 Perfect sets of teeth 2,704 3-23 627 6-66 Gums : Gingivitis or pyorrhoea 263 0-31 98 1-04 Nose and throat— Nasal obstruction 2,890 3-45 130 1-38 Enlarged tonsils 9,116 10-90 1,040 11-04 Goitre (European 41,845, Maoris 9,412, examined) — Incipient 1,999 4-77 77 0-82 Small 226 0-56 14 0-14 Medium or large 16 0-03 1 0-01 Total amount of goitre 2,241 5-36 92 0-97 Eye— External eye-disease 499 0-59 26 0-27 Squints 314 0-37 5 0-05 Defective vision— Uncorrected 1,639 1-96 299 2-43 Corrected 1,262 1-50 25 0-26 Ear— Otorrhoea 93 0-11 70 0-74 Defective hearing 480 0-57 64 0-67 Defective speech 406 0-48 13 0-13 Mental— \Retardate 251 0-30 9 0-09 Feeblemindedness ' 97 0-11 1 0-01 Epilepsy 18 0-02 Nervous defects 222 0-26 1 o : oi Digestive system defects 61 0-07 2 0-02 Phimosis 40 0-04 2 0-02 Undescended testicles 281 0-33 11 0-11 Number of parents present at medical examination .. 21,665 25-91 387 4-11