Obesity

There is no need to describe the distinguishing marks of obesity. Alas, they are all too obvious. Those unhappy creatures who suffer from it need no description of its discomforts and unsightliness to enable them to recognize. The "little plump woman," happy in her plumpness, has only to look in almost any shop or street at the really corpulent members to realize the risk she is running and yet she sees only the outside. She cannot tell the harm done to the bodily organs or the unhappiness resulting from this condition.

THE WARNING SIGNALS

Overweight begins as "good living." The face grows round and rosy. Everyone agrees that the candidate for obesity is "in fine shape." He is a good match for his wife who may well have the same table habits and be travelling along the same road. Her skirt -belt may be getting a little tight, and perhaps there is a bit of a strain on his jacket-buttons, but this stage is still one of optimism and flourishing health. And at this point no one worries and not even one glance is cast at this book in the books hop window. Still less likely are they to go off and consult their doctor, but they are making a mistake because things will continue to develop relentlessly. They will get a tummy and a paunch, and larger brassieres will be needed. Shoulders will get plump and the hollows over the collar-bones will disappear completely. This is nothing to be pleased about. No pretty woman should entirely lose these hollows.

Fat will overhang the hips and the waist will disappear, the tintacks will enlarge. The girdle will squeeze the flesh, rolls of which will swell out above and below it. The neck will thicken and lose its normal contour. Just a bit more weight, and appears the double chin. The roll of fat under the nape of the neck will follow.

The skin loses its firm and taut yet supple appearance. It gets puffy and it quivers.

Without wishing, as we said, to elaborate on this picture and come to a sorry sight of breasts sagging down to the stomach, of the stomach drooping over the pubis, of the pubis swelling modestly over the genital organs- let me merely point out that for anyone who is not on the look-out, overweight marches on relentlessly towards obesity.

Be on your guard! There are still pauses in the march towards obesity, even if you don't change your diet. These responses are dangerous tricksters, for they lull the future victim into a false sense of security.

BEWARE OF ILLNESS

We cannot insist on this too much: overweight not only affects your looks, but your health too. While established obesity actually damages the health, overnight usually causes only discomfort. It is not going outside our scope to stress strongly that obesity, from the strictly medical point of view, is a source of serious dangers, and we must mention them.

Circulation troubles are the most important and serious of these. The obese person gets palpitations, experiences pains in the heart, and becomes extremely out of breath on making the least effort. All these symptoms are not purely due to the bodyweight that has to be carried about, although this is also an important factor when you realize that every effort made during the day is handicapped by a load of maybe twenty to fifty pounds.

Moreover, the heart itself gets tired, because it is burdened by the fat surrounding it, and because the very substance of the heart muscle is impregnated with this fat. Such a heart is at the mercy of the smallest failure. In the majority of cases, these heart troubles will be associated with arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure, possibly with diabetes or gout. When the weight problem is dealt with and the patients slim down, because they have become aware of the serious nature of their affliction, these troubles will disappear. Otherwise they will take hold, bringing in their train a whole range of potential dangers, apoplexy, paralysis, coronary thrombosis, uremia due to kidney failure. As for those of you who are not obese but merely nicely rounded and who look upon yourselves as free from these dangers, you mU$t know that you are a heart-case in the making. Does not any effort, any emotion, make you flush, make your eyes bulge, make you breathless? If this is the case then watch out. Big troubles are lying in wait! Get treatment at once - and get effective treatment. It is no longer a matter of beauty but of health.