“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)

“Sperm whale opening it's huge mouth, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Sperm whales are the biggest carnivorous animals on the planet. Each teeth in the mouth of adult specimen weights more than 1 kilogram. Interestingly enough that modern marine biologists believe that these teeth despite being fearsome play little role in capturing and eating giant squid – with their main function being mainly ritual aggression between males!”. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)

People in Mexico wave at U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border fence near San Diego, California, U.S., November 10, 2016. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

Zhu Jianqiang, or “strong-willed pig”, famous for surviving more than a month buried in the ruins after the magnitude-8.0 Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, feeds on food sent by admirers wishing it a safe winter in Jianchuan Museum, Chengdu city, southwest China's Sichuan province, 11 January 2021. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A villager offers prayer to a dead body of an elephant, which is killed by lightning at atop of Bamuni hill in Assam's Nagaon district, on May 14, 2021. 18 wild elephants were found dead atop Bamuni Hills in Assam's Nagaon district today after lightning struck them during the showers in the area on May 12, 2021. At least 18 elephants are suspected to have been killed by lightning in northeastern India, officials said on May 13 as they launched a probe into the incident. (Photo by Biju Boro/AFP Photo)

An Afghani man sells bread on a roadside in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 23 April 2024. A recent World Bank report reveals a 26% decrease in Afghanistan's gross output over the past year, primarily attributed to a 1.3 billion USD income reduction for farmers due to the ban on drug cultivation. Although tax revenue saw a modest increase of 13% in 2023, exports experienced a 15% decline specifically to Pakistan. Afghan officials highlighted efforts to spur domestic production, improve trade, stabilize the national currency, and initiate key economic projects. (Photo by Qudratullah Razwan/EPA/EFE)

Believers of the Legio Maria of African Church Mission covered in mud, attend a procession as part of their Christmas Mass near Ugunja, in Siaya County, Kenya on December 25, 2022. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Assamese dancers in traditional attire perform as they attempt Guinness World Record in the largest folk dance performance category in Guwahati, India, Friday, April 14, 2023. Around 11,000 Bihu dancers and musicians performed together to set a new record for Guinness World Record in the largest folk dance performance category today. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)