HC Deb 19 February 1942 vol 377 cc1881-2
18. Mr. Sorensen

asked the Minister of Health whether any records have been or are being secured of the weight of patients in mental hospitals now as compared with the beginning of the war?

Mr. E. Brown

It is part of the normal practice in mental hospitals to record the weights of patients from time to time, and the Commissioners of the Board of Control have in the course of some recent visits obtained particulars of these weights at certain hospitals.

Mr. Sorensen

Will these records be published in full, and does the Minister appreciate their relationship with the general effect of war-time conditions?

Mr. Brown

I could not give a general answer of that kind. I would point out that the weight of the general population has probably declined since the war began, and this, of course, is not necessarily an evil.