 The stomach was sometimes found to be small from atrophy or large from gaseous distension and the large intestine could be atrophied or ulcerated.In 1946, following German demand for more food, a severe winter and restricted imports, the Medical Research Council (MRC) sponsored a number of nutritional scientists including Robert McCance, Elsie Widdowson and Meiklejohn to report on the German state of health.All three came to the same conclusion that the Germans might have lost some weight due to food shortages but were generally not malnourished and after examining more than 2000 Germans, Meiklejohn reported that "many adults are likely to have benefitted from losing excess weight and its complications of high blood pressure, diabetes and gall stones".