§ Mr. CHARLES BATHURSTasked the President of the Board of Education whether he had received any official information showing, as the result of the medical inspection of children in the elementary schools, that an average of over 35 per cent. of such children were suffering from more or less defective teeth, and that the medical officers were almost unanimous in attributing such condition to the consumption of white bread made of flour from which the germ had been mechanically extracted; and, if so, whether steps would be taken through the medium of the local authorities to bring the cause of this condition to the notice of the parents, with a view to its amelioration?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANA summary of the information at the disposal of the Board on the subject of the condition of the teeth of those children in public elementary 1459 schools who were medically examined in the year 1908 will be found in the recently issued Report of the Board's chief medical officer, pages 53–57. The Report shows that the number of children with defective teeth is considerable, but the information at present at the disposal of the Board is not sufficient to enable them to form a precise estimate of the percentage of children in public elementary schools who are suffering from defective teeth. I am not aware that any medical officers have been so rash as to attribute the defects in children's teeth solely to the consumption of any one particular article of food.
§ Mr. CHARLES BATHURSTI should like to ask the right hon. Gentleman whether, in view of this admitted physical defect, it is not advisable to institute an inquiry as to what is the underlying cause of such defect?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANI am afraid this defect is not peculiar to children in elementary schools alone. We cannot start an inquiry until the whole of our information on medical inspection has covered the ground.
§ Mr. BATHURSTDoes not the right hon. Gentleman find it a little difficult to justify the expenditure upon the medical inspection of school children unless some steps are taken to remedy the more serious defects disclosed by such inspection?
§ Mr. RUNCIMANThat would be carrying medical inspection much further than is contemplated by the Act, but it is not outside the bounds of possibility.
§ Mr. GODFREY LOCKER-LAMPSONMay I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether the German black bread, so-called, contains the germ referred to, and whether he can inform the House that the condition of the children's teeth in Germany is more satisfactory than the condition of children's teeth in this country?