“The most serious health problem in the U.S. today is obesity.” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? But that pronouncement about obesity’s primacy in the hierarchy of national health problems is not new. Rather, it’s the opening line to a remarkable article published 60 years ago in LIFE magazine. This photographs made by Martha Holmes to illustrate that March 1954 article, titled “The Plague of Overweight.” Photo: Dorothy Bradley (left), photographed for LIFE magazine article on obesity, 1949. (Photo by Martha Holmes/Time & Life Pictures)

Chinese artist Zhou Jie takes a nap on an unfinished iron wire bed, one of her sculpture works, after lunch at Beijing Now Art Gallery, in Beijing August 11, 2014. Zhou started her art project titled “36 Days” on August 9, in which she would live inside an exhibition hall with an unfinished iron wire bed, some iron wire sculptures in the shape of stuffed animal dolls, a certain amount of food and her mobile phone, for 36 days. The entire process is open to visitors and she may also interact with them, according to Zhou. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

104-year-old John Faulkner of Appleford, Berkshire enjoys a pipe and a glass of beer as he remembers his considerable past. A former jockey, he has been married twice and fathered 32 children. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 17th March 1932

British model and fashion designer Stella Tennant in Chanel Swimwear, collection Automne-Hiver 1995-96 at Paris Fashion Show in Paris on October 20, 1995. Stella Tennant, one of the most renowned catwalk models and cover-stars of the 1990s, has died aged 50, her family announced on December 23, 2020. “It is with great sadness we announce the sudden death of Stella Tennant on 22nd December 2020”, the statement said. (Photo by Neville Marriner/ANL/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Women pose for a selfie in a lavender field at Hitchin Lavender farm in Ickleford, Britain, August 4, 2020. (Photo by Peter Cziborra/Reuters)

American actress and model Megan Fox looks lush in a green bikini for a forest photoshoot which sent social media wild in the second decade of July 2023. (Photo by Cibelle Levi)

Young couple in BDSM action on the leather sofa. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

English actress Florence Pugh celebrates her 26th birthday in the “best f--king party shoe” on January 3, 2022. (Photo by Instagram/Florence Pugh)