“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 British woman plays a piano designed especially for people who are confined to bed. Date: 1935. (Photo by Mary Evans Picture Library/Caters News)

“Taking the lead in this year’s Calendar is beautiful Oscar winning actress, Penelope Cruz, whilst noted fashion photographer, Kristian Schuller, shot the intense imagery”. (Photo by Kristian Schuller)

P.S. Very bad photoset. Penelope Cruz – the beautiful woman and the characteristic actress. Also that as a result? ANYTHING.

A man cries in a graveyard during the funeral of Nasser Ali Afglio, a young Libyan rebel killed during battle with government troops loyal to Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi April 19, 2011 in Misrata, Libya. The graveyard where Nasser was buried has hundreds of simple concrete graves; many dozens are those that have been killed during the last two months of fighting in the besieged town. Thousands of civilians are trapped in Misrata as fighting continues between Libyan government forces that have surrounded the city and anti-government rebels there. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Plastinated human corpses posed to look like poker players stand on display at the Body Worlds exhibition on April 27, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. The exhibition, which features human and animal corpses plastinated by Gunther von Hagens, focuses on the role of the heart. It will be open to the public at the Postbahnhof from April 27 to August 14. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

J.T. Miller #9 of the Vancouver Canucks scores a goal on Alex Nedeljkovic #39 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period of their NHL game at Rogers Arena on October 26, 2024 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers from the mixed-gender Lions of the Jordan battalion, under the Kfir Brigade, check their weapons at the end of the last training before being assigned their posting, on February 28, 2017, near the West Bank village of Bardale, east of Jenin. (Photo by Jack Guez/AFP Photo)

A 2S5 Giatsint self- propelled gun fires during tactical exercises held by artillery detachments of the Russian Eastern Military District' s 5th Army at the Sergeyevsky training ground in Primorye Territory, Russia on March 21, 2017. Over 2500 servicemen practice combat skills received in 2017 winter training exercises. (Photo by Yuri Smityuk/TASS)