Indigenous men perfom the “Danza del Parachicos” (Parachicos dance) to honor the Lord of Esquipulas during a pilgrimage in the municipality of Chiapa de Corzo, Mexico, 15 January 2024. (Photo by Carlos López/EPA)

Kites fly in the sky during the Kite Show at the historical complex “Fort Konstantin” in city of Kronstadt outside Saint Petersburg, on June 7, 2025. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)

A Palestinian carries children as wounded Palestinians receive treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, after an Israeli airstrike on a house, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip on July 8, 2025. (Photo by Ramadan Abed/Reuters)

A Lebanese man rides his horse in a village destroyed by an Israeli air and ground offensive, in the town of Kfar Kila, southern Lebanon, Tuesday, February 18, 2025. (Photo by Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)

India's Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel assists a dog to perform a stunt during the celebrations to mark country's Independence Day, in Chennai on August 15, 2025. (Photo by R.Satish Babu/AFP Photo)

An England fan poses for a photo outside the stadium before their international friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Newcastle, Britain on June 3, 2024. (Photo by Lee Smith/Action Images via Reuters)

“Catasta” wearing a latex hexus costume poses in the grounds of St Mary's Church during the “Whitby Goth Weekend”, North Yorkshire, on November 2, 2014. The event grew out of the punk scene in 1984 with its own style of music and fashion. The event in Whitby now attracts Goths from all over Europe and creates over 1 million pounds in revenue for local busnisess. (Photo by Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire)

“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)