“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)

A visitor stands in front of a portrait taken by artist Bruce Gilden at the “Masters of Photography” exhibition at the Photokina trade fair in Cologne on September 20, 2016. The fair for the photographic and imaging sector, that is running from September 20 to 25, 2016, presents products from image capture, image processing and storage to image output. Photokina also includes a program of events with congresses, workshops, symposiums and photography exhibitions. (Photo by Patrik Stollarz/AFP Photo)

A four-year-old bulldog named Goldie wearing spectacles and a nightcap. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 9th January 1960

A Palestinian man reacts after his house was flooded by rain water in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 9, 2015. (Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Philippine Marines from the Naval Special Operations Group (NAVSOG) storm the beach to simulate an “extraction” of a kidnapped victim as they kick off a five-day amphibious military exercise at the Philippine Marines training center in Ternate, Cavite province, about 50 miles (80kms) south of Manila, Philippines Thursday, September 24, 2015. The naval exercise dubbed PAGSISIKAP 2015 is aimed at enhancing capability of their fleet and forces as well as to strengthen interoperability of the Marines. (Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP Photo)

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West leave their residence in Paris, on May 23, 2014. (Photo by Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP Photo)

A grey whale greets tourists in boat in, Baja California, Mexico, March 2017. A pair of newly born grey whale calves intrigued by visiting tourists eagerly swim over to the group to get a closer look. Urged on by their mother, the small calves confidently went up to the tour group who were visiting San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California, Mexico. This adorable moment was captured by zoologist and wildlife photographer, Mark Carwardine on his visit to the area in March 2017. (Photo by Mark Carwardine/Barcroft Images)

Student of Meiji University Yuki Hou licks a screen of Taste the TV (TTTV), a prototype lickable TV screen that can imitate the flavours of various foods, during its demonstration at the university in Tokyo, Japan, December 22, 2021. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)