History of Obesity: from Bad to Worse

A person that becomes so overweight that he crosses the accepted weight range for his height is generally termed as being obese. A possible reason for such a condition is that the energy contained in foods that are consumed by this person turn to fat instead of being converted into muscle.

Obesity can adversely affect your health and is also a leading cause for a number of degenerative diseases that have been linked to a history of obesity. In addition, it can adversely affect the psyche of the person and as can be seen in the history of obesity, it has been considered differently among different cultures ranging from appreciation to denigration.

Ancient Egyptians, Chinese and Aztec Views on Obesity

The history of obesity goes back a long way and it has been known to man from early times and it was even considered a disease by the Egyptians who depicted it as such in their wall paintings. Even people in Ancient China were aware of obesity and its associated dangers and they were of the view that prevention of obesity would lead to a prolongation of life. The Aztec people considered obesity as being a supernatural force that was perhaps God’s affliction.

Even Hippocrates who is considered as being the father of medicine knew that sudden deaths was commonly associated with being obese and he put this down in his writings. Though some cultures where malnourishment was rampant view obesity as being a symbol of wealth as well as social elevation, this is a very old view. In fact, during the early twentieth century, the view of obesity underwent a notable change and according to the history of obesity, many, such as the French designer Poiret considered obesity as being unfashionable and rightly so since he was designing clothes that were rather revealing for women of the time.

BMI Introduced

Later, in the history of obesity, the Metropolitan Life Insurance company came out in the 1940’s with a chart of ideal weights for different heights and were of the opinion that gaining weight as one grew older was not recommended. Still later, in the year 1966, the Body Mass Index or BMI was published which helped in determining whether a person was obese or not and it came at a time when the incidences of obesity were on the rise. This was especially true in the case of children as well as adolescents who in fact showed that this rise had tripled in a short period of time and was far worse than anything recorded throughout the entire history of obesity.

Super Size Me

When the controversial film named Super Size Me explored obesity in the US, people were made more aware of the severity of this problem. According to the history of obesity, this issue has gone from bad to worse in spite of people becoming more aware of the techniques to combat the problem.

1. Prev:Obesity Studies Show an Alarming Increase in Overweight Americans
2. Next:Arthritis and Obesity:  a Direct Link