FOOD OF RURAL CHILDREN 129 



The numbers in the above classifications are much too small to permit valid 

 comparisons with diet scores. A study of the records of the individual chil- 

 dren points to the conclusion that, in overweight, quantity of food consumed 

 rather than the quality of the diet is tlie chief factor. The diet scores of 

 the overweight children do not fall into any particular numerical group but 

 are scattered throughout the entire range of scores. 



Two of the most extreme cases of underweight were ciiildren barely con- 

 valescent from serious illness; a third was that of a girl suffering from 

 marked hyperthyroidism-^the only case of endocrine imbalance reported in 

 either town. For the other cases of underweight, no explanation is to be 

 found in the available data. 



Age does not appear to be a factor in either over- or underweight. In the 

 distributions of weight by age the frequencies are scattering. 



Dental Examinations 



The examinations of the children's teeth were made painstakingly and 

 slowly, in order that no defect might go unrecorded. Eight days were re- 

 quired to examine the pupils in the Carver schools and 14 days in Southwick. 

 More time was needed in Southwick because of the distances to be travelled 

 betweeii school buildings and also because of the larger proportion of white 

 children. Complete examinations were not made of the teeth of the colored 

 children, since those records were not to be included among the data of the 

 study. The colored children were kept in the examining chair only long enough 

 to look at the four first permanent molars. In this way the possibility of 

 giving offense to the colored families was avoided without wasting an undue 

 amount of the hygienist's time. 



The dental examinations were made with an explorer especially designed 

 for the detection of fissures — the Gillett explorer, number one. It is not only 

 extra fine and sharp but it also has an angle that permits easy access to the 

 grooves of the molars. 



The conditions of work were far from what might be desired, — three chairs, 

 a portable headrest loaned from the Forsythe Dental Infirmary of Boston, 

 mirrors and probes, with denatured alcohol in a half pint milk bottle as the 

 sterilizer, and paper napkins for towels. In Southwick especially, the light 

 in the schoolrooms was often so poor it made the work difficult and fatigu- 

 ing for the hygienist. She spared no effort in her wish to make adequate 

 and thorough examinations, and it is felt that these dental records give the 

 most accurate information of any presented in this entire report. 



All the teeth of 168 white children in Carver and 232 in Southwick were 

 examined. Of these, 139 from Carver and 113 from Southwick were children 

 whose homes were visited and for whom dietary records were secured. 



Evidences of care by a dentist were found in the mouths of only 24 (23 

 per cent) of the 105 Carver children of native and mixed parentage, and 26 

 (23 per cent) of the 115 Southwick children of similar parentage. Among 

 the children of foreign-born parentage, 8 (13 per cent) of the 63 from Carver 

 and 14 (12 per cent) of the 117 from Southwick had evidences of previous 

 dental repair work. These figures are naturally exclusive of possible extrac- 

 tions of temporary teeth by a dentist. It is not a matter for amazement that 

 so few of these children had been taken to a dentist. Neither Carver nor 

 Southwick has a resident dentist and very many of the parents, even if they 

 wished to do so, would find it difficult to spare the time or the money neces- 



