Encyclopedia of Diet: A Treatise on the Food Question, Vol. 2

by Eugene Christian

OBESITY OR OVERWEIGHT

Diet, the governing law of body-weight

It is generally supposed that obesity is a natural result of modern civilization. This theory has no foundation in fact or physiology. Man can be genuinely modern without being obese. The law that governs the growth and graceful symmetry of the human body is based upon dietetics, and the indispensable adjuncts of diet are exercise, oxidation and elimination. A body that is filled with vitality by a perfectly balanced diet will experience the same appetite for motion or exercise that it does for food or drink. Exercise forces more blood to the lungs, and more thorough oxidation is the result. The properly fed young animal, whether brute or human, plays and exercises involuntarily, and the older animal, adequately nourished without being overfed, does not lose its youthful instincts. An observance of the above laws will prevent the accumulation of an excess of fatty tissue.

The following table gives the normal weight of natural healthy adults according to height, also the weights considered thin and obese:

		MALES			FEMALES
Height		Weight			Weight
Feet	Inches	Thin	Fat	Normal	Thin	Fat	Normal
5—	—	95	126	110	93	122	111
5—	1	98	132	115	94	128	116
5—	2	100	138	120	96	134	118
5—	3	106	144	125	102	140	121
5—	4	110	149	130	105	145	126
5—	5	114	155	135	109	151	131
5—	6	116	158	138	112	154	134
5—	7	118	161	140	114	157	136
5—	8	121	164	143	117	160	140
5—	9	126	173	150	123	169	145
5—	10	131	178	155	126	173	150
5—	11	133	184	160	128	179	155
6—	—	136	190	165	131	185	160
6—	1	140	192	170	135	187	165
6—	2	148	201	175	143	196	170
6—	3	152	207	180	147	200	175

OBESITY—THE CAUSE

A very exhausting treatise could be written upon the cause of obesity, but, summing it all up briefly, corpulency is invariably induced through a direct or indirect violation of the laws of nutrition, as exemplified in their wonderful processes of transforming material called food into pulsating life.

A combination of commissions and omissions generally conspire to produce the obese body. They may be mentioned in the order of their importance: