School Children's Health In the report of Sir Arthur MeNatty,
Chief Medical Officer of the Board of Education, on the health of school children in 1935, a new method of classification has for the first time been adopted. " Nutrition " being defined as " the general wellbeing of the child," children are grouped in four classes : Excellent, Normal, Subnormal, Bad. For the country as a whole the percentages in each group are 14.6 per cent,- 74.1 per cent., 10.6 per cent. and .7 per cent. This may seem satisfactory, though the report contains a warning against possible deficiencies in the method of classifica- tion; efforts are being made to discover more reliable tests. It is interesting, however; to compare the national percentages with those for particular areas ; thus, in County Durham, a centre of unemployment, nearly 24 per cent, of the children are below normal, as com- pared with 4 per cent. in Essex. There is obviously room for improvement in raising children from normal to excellent ; it is therefore unfortunate that the number of free meals provided in schools has declined con- siderably, while the quality of the food is severely criticised in the report. In the poorest. areas very few children receive both free milk and a free meal.
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