["The girls are sick, weak and overstrained" Sickness among girls and boys based on Swedish physical examinations ca 1870-1930].
In the late 19th century a major physical examination of more than 11000 pupils was carried out in Swedish schools. There was a common belief among physicians and teachers that the current education had a most damaging influence on the health of boys and in particular girls. It was a well-known fact, according to some physicians, that a substantial number of Swedish girls suffered from diseases such as chlorosis and other ailments. Girls from the middle and upper classes were supposed to be the most affected. Based on the presumptions and observations, several physical examinations were preformed between 1870-1930. Swedish pupils were in a bad condition indeed. In the late 19th century more than 60 percent of all female students were in some way sick or in a bad condition. In comparison, 45 percent of all boys were not well. Most girls and boys were overstrained, anemic, suffered from headaches and had a poor appetite.A number of changes in the sickness and health of girls and boys during the period studied have been discovered. First, concepts of sickness and health were modified over time. What was defined as a sickness in the late 19th century was not interpreted in the same way a few decades later; Secondly, the prevalence of sickness in girls and boys changed over time. In the beginning of the period studied girls were sicker than boys, but in the end, in the 1930s, there was no obvious gender difference in the prevalence of sickness. In addition this article shows how the common belief, that middle and upper class girls were more exposed to and affected by illnesses, was not supported by the results from the contemporary physical examinations. Instead, it was evident that working class girls, in general, were sicker than boys with the same socio-economic status and also sicker than middle and upper class girls.