“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)

People at a Czech Stop look at a cloud of smoke rising from the explosion in West, Texas, April 17, 2013. (Photo by Andy Bartee via Dallas Morning News/MCT)

“Maho Beach is a beach on the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, in the country of Sint Maarten. It is famous for the Princess Juliana International Airport adjacent to the beach. Arriving aircraft must touch down as close as possible to the beginning of Runway 10 due to the short runway length of 2,180 metres (7,150 ft), resulting in aircraft on their final approach flying over the beach at minimal altitude”. – Wikipedia

Photo: “AirFrance Boeing 747 landing in St. Maarten”. (Photo by Aurimas)

Two men using an electric power saw to fell a tree circa 1940's. (Photo by Keystone View/FPG/Getty Images)

People hold an umbrella under strong wind on the promenade of Victoria Habour as tropical cyclone Ma-on approaches Hong Kong, Wednesday, August 24, 2022.Tropical Storm Ma-on was gaining strength as it headed for Hong Kong and other parts of southeastern China on Wednesday after displacing thousands in the Philippines. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/AP Photo)

Planes land in fog at Heathrow Airport, west London on January 4, 2014, as heavy fog covers a many parts of the south east. (Photo by Steve Parsons/PA Images via Getty Images)

A girl plays at the West Side Hallo Fest, a Halloween festival in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, October 27, 2023. Tens of thousands streamed last weekend to Bucharest's Angels' Island peninsula for what was the biggest Halloween festival in the Eastern European nation since the fall of Communism. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

Buildings in Lujiazui financial district are seen shrouded in fog amid an orange alert for heavy fog in Shanghai, China on January 31, 2024. (Photo by Xihao Jiang/Reuters)