ABSTRACT
Medicine is pivotal in the discussion of overweight and obesity. Condemnation of overweight hinges on the premise that it is a disease that puts individuals at risk and renders populations vulnerable. Yet ironically, less than a century ago, plumpness was lauded as healthy, and slenderness a cause for concern. Medical textbooks were more likely to be preoccupied by the risk of underweight than of fatness. In 1929, J.P. MacLaren recommended to doctors undertaking medical insurance examinations that ‘generally speaking, a moderate accumulation of fat up to the age of 40 or 45 is good,’ and, he explained, ‘if the subject has a broad chest, muscular frame, good digestion and circulation and active habits, his chances of longevity are distinctly good’ (MacLaren 1929: 192). At odds with contemporary beliefs, MacLaren described the overweight youth as a much lower risk than the underweight to the potential insurer.
