Objective:Drinking plenty of water is commonly recommended in weight loss regimens; however, very limited scientific evidence is available to justify this. Here we studied the effect of drinking 1.5 L of water, over and above the usual intake on body weight, body mass index (BMI), body fat, and appetite score in overweight female participants.Materials and Methods:The study was done on 50 overweight female participants, who were instructed to drink 500 mL of water, three times a day 30 min before breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The 1.5 L water intake was over and above their daily water intake and was continued for 8 consecutive weeks. Body weight, BMI, body fat, and appetite score was measured pre and post-study; and the values were compared by paired t-test using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 14.0.1.Results:All the parameters tested were lower after 8 weeks: body weight (pre-study 65.86 ± 3.614 kg vs post-study 64.42 ± 3.704 kg; P < 0.01); BMI (pre-study 26.7002 ± 0.9423 vs post-study 26.1224 ± 1.0632; P < 0.01); sum of skinfold thickness (pre-study 79.626 ± 10.385 mm vs post-study 76.578 ± 10.477 mm; P < 0.01); and the appetite score (pre-study 36.880 ± 4.170 vs post-study 34.673 ± 3.845; P < 0.01).Conclusions:Our study establishes the role of drinking 1.5 L of excessive water in weight reduction, body fat reduction, and appetite suppression in overweight female participants.

Documentation and research are two essential factors for the growth of any profession and, therefore, have priority in occupational therapy. Documentation is the key to the communication of the clinical services rendered by the occupational therapist to clients and to other members of the professional team (Gillette 1982, Ottenbacher and York 1984). Single-system research, sometimes referred to as single-subject research, is a quantitative research method. In single-system research, the efficacy of a certain intervention can be evaluated in a systematic way by studying one subject in a single setting (Ottenbacher 1984). A therapist can make use of any therapeutic technique to work in a single-system design. Gillette (1982, p499) stated: ‘Each occupational therapy clinic is a virtually untouched laboratory, a storehouse of evidence that, properly recorded, analysed and published, would serve to confirm the value of occupational therapy as a health care service.’ This article describes the application of single-system design in a clinical setting. The client discussed was treated using sensory integrative therapy. The purpose of this article is to show how a selected behaviour can be recorded and measured effectively using a single-system design.