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67
One further result which has been clearly demonstrated is
that those girls who asked to join the group (and therefore were
presumably more strongly motivated to lose weight) were twice as
successful in attaining weight loss; in the first six months
they lost an average of lbs. while the average loss of the
others was only 4 lbs.
A second group of fifteen girls has been started, their
results are as follows:-
Total weight lost or gained
(in pounds)
This group has generally stronger
motivation and the pattern of
weight loss has been steadier
and more satisfactory.
Time (in fortnightly intervals)
To succeed in treating obesity certain factors are essential.
(a) Strong motivation to lose weight on the part of the patient.
(b) Adequate medical support and dietetic advice.
(c) Regular supervision and indefinite follow-up.
While it is too early to say whether the group situation
provides the ideal climate for the treatment of childhood
obesity, the results so far justify a continued investigation of
this type of therapy.
The girls who have attended the weight control clinic so far
have been selected at random and are by no means the most overweight
of Croydon's schoolchildren. It rapidly became obvious
that the potential numbers needing treatment were too great to
be all treated in this way. It was therefore decided to investigate
the height and weight distribution in a secondary girls'
school.