Obesity: The Biography

A timely book in view of current preoccupations with globesity, although it is somewhat ironic that it appears in a series of volumes on the biography of diseases, when obesity is not in fact a disease. The author is an authority on the social and cultural history of the body, and is able to trace the history of obesity from ancient Greeks to the present, showing how cultural interpretations have changed but the pattern of therapeutic interventions has remained relatively constant in taking either a psychological or physiological approach. There is an interesting section in the middle of the book about the influence of the 16th century Italian Luigi Cornaro, who suffered from a variety of ailments due to overindulgence until his middle age but cured himself by a strict regime that enabled him to live healthily until the age of 98. Coming to the present, the discussion in the final chapter includes a critical reference to Weston Price and his theory of nutrition and physical degeneration. The discussion of organic food reflects the author's prejudice, although I do agree that those who eat organically are not necessarily better people as such! And the role of giant food companies in helping create widespread obesity is not referred to except obliquely in a reference to the China Study showing that the transition to a Western diet brings with it a tendency towards overweight and the advent of diseases of civilisation. There is also no reference to the work of Sir Robert McCarrison.