“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)

In this February 4, 2016 picture a masked participant of the traditional carnival parade poses in the streets of the village of Kippel in the Loetschental valley, southwestern part of Switzerland. During this sinister carnival, participants wearing wooden masks and animal furs, crowd the streets of the villages to scare the people. (Photo by Dominic Steinmann/Keystone via AP Photo)

Girls dressed up in traditional Egyptian clothes from the early 20th century pose for a picture before they get their photos taken on the historical Al-Moez street of Islamic Cairo, Egypt, January 17, 2016. (Photo by Asmaa Waguih/Reuters)

Buddhist novice poses for a picture while monks gather to receive alms at Wat Phra Dhammakaya temple, in what organizers said was a meeting of over 100,000 monks, in Pathum Thani, outside Bangkok April 22, 2016. (Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters)

The combination of Venezuela's sky-rocketing prices and chronic product shortages have left many struggling to put regular food on their tables and maintain a balanced diet. According to one recent study, 87 percent of Venezuelans say their income is now insufficient to purchase their food needs. Here: All the food available in the house of Antonia Torres and her family, is pictured at their home in Caracas, Venezuela April 22, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

People take pictures of the Tribute in Light while it is illuminated next to the Statue of Liberty (C), One World Trade Center and the Empire State Building during events marking the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York September 11, 2015. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

An East German civilian (L) shows an East German customs officer the contents of his Trabant (auto) at checkpoint Potsdamer Platz in East Berlin in this November 24, 1989 file picture, as East Germany enforcing stringent customs controls to avoid smuggling. (Photo by Reuters)

A contestant of the World Beard And Mustache Championships poses for a picture during the opening ceremony of the Championships 2015 on October 3, 2015 in Leogang, Austria. Over 300 contestants in teams from across the globe have come to compete in sixteen different categories in three groups: mustache, partial beard and full beard. The event takes place every few years at different locations worldwide. (Photo by Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images)