Obesity and Hypertension

In September, 1919, one room for women patients at the Presbyterian Hospital Dispensary was devoted to the care and study of cases diagnosed as obesity. While the result of treatment was not startling, the incidence of hypertension and the influence of diet are here noted. The method employed was a reducing diet calculated to contain sufficient protein and yet to be nonsustaining in calories for the average working woman to maintain her body weight. This relatively high protein diet contained a total of about 1,700 calories, with about 87 gm. of protein. Whenever fewer calories were found necessary to bring about reduction, first the butter (200 calories), then the bread (300 calories), and then the starchy vegetable was removed. Such a diet was found to be far from ideal and not very exact, but nevertheless workable for the patient as well as for the physician. REDUCING DIET Breakfast: One orange