London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Croydon 1969
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Croydon]
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| QUESTION. | GROUP'B' | GROUP'B' | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5. Would you have preferred individual treatment? | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| 4 | 27 | 2 | 21 | |
| 6. What is your present weight? (in indoor clothes without shoes) | Weight satisfactory or up to 10% above ideal calculated weight for their height and build. | |||
| 7. What is your present height? (if known) | 8 | 9 | ||
| These two questions were used to calculate the present degree of obesity, using the clinic records for their build type. | Weight up to 10% to 20% above ideal | |||
| 10 | 8 | |||
| Weight 20% to 30% above ideal | ||||
| 6 | 4 | |||
| Estimates calculated from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company charts (1960) | Over 30% above ideal | |||
| 7 | 2 | |||
| 8. Have you any suggestions about the clinic? | 12 girls asked if the clinic could be held out of school hours. | 5 girls also asked for an evening or weekend clinic. | ||
| Also several girls in both groups who had lost weight said they felt this would have been impossible without the aid of the clinic. | ||||
| Finally the girls were asked their name and age. One paper was anonymous but otherwise correctly filled in and this was included, using the weight range for the upper limit of a medium frame adult. | ||||
After about six months it was decided to try once again to find out the
present weight situation of those who had not replied to the original
questionnaire, and a new letter was sent to these girls. This stressed the
importance of the information but suggested that they could reply anonymously
if they preferred; a pre-paid label was enclosed to try and.encourage
more replies. This time the girls were merely asked their present weight
and height and whether they thought the clinic was a good idea.
There were ten valid replies (none anonymously) and one form was
returned with the information that the girl had emigrated.
The results were as follows:-
Weight now satisfactory or less than 10% above ideal - 4
Weight now 10% to 20% above ideal - 3