Editing Obesity (section)

===Historical attitudes===
[[File:Charles Mellin (attributed) - Portrait of a Gentleman - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|alt=A very obese gentleman with a prominent double chin and mustache dressed in black with a sword at his left side.|During the [[Middle Ages]] and the [[Renaissance]] ''The Tuscan General [[Alessandro del Borro]]'', attributed to Charles Mellin, 1645<ref name=Zach2003>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bloomgarden ZT | title = Prevention of obesity and diabetes | journal = Diabetes Care | volume = 26 | issue = 11 | pages = 3172–8 | date = November 2003 | pmid = 14578257 | doi = 10.2337/diacare.26.11.3172 | url = http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/11/3172.full | type = Review | doi-access = free }}</ref>]]
[[File:Venus von Willendorf 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|alt=A carved stone miniature figurine depicted an obese female.|''[[Venus of Willendorf]]'' created 24,000–22,000 BC]]
[[Ancient Greek medicine]] recognizes obesity as a medical disorder and records that the Ancient Egyptians saw it in the same way.<ref name=Haslam2007>{{cite journal | vauthors = Haslam D | title = Obesity: a medical history | journal = Obesity Reviews | volume = 8 | issue = Suppl 1 | pages = 31–6 | date = March 2007 | pmid = 17316298 | doi = 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2007.00314.x | s2cid = 43866948 | type = Review | doi-access = free }}</ref> [[Hippocrates]] wrote that "Corpulence is not only a disease itself, but the harbinger of others".<ref name=HaslamJames/> The Indian surgeon [[Sushruta]] (6th century BCE) related obesity to diabetes and heart disorders.<ref name=Dwivedi&Dwivedi07/> He recommended physical work to help cure it and its side effects.<ref name=Dwivedi&Dwivedi07>{{cite web |url=http://medind.nic.in/iae/t07/i4/iaet07i4p243.pdf |title=History of Medicine: Sushruta – the Clinician – Teacher par Excellence |access-date=19 September 2008 |website=Dwivedi, Girish & Dwivedi, Shridhar |year=2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010045900/http://medind.nic.in/iae/t07/i4/iaet07i4p243.pdf |archive-date=10 October 2008 }}</ref> For most of human history, mankind struggled with food scarcity.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Mazzone T, Fantuzzi G |title=Adipose Tissue And Adipokines in Health And Disease (Nutrition and Health) |publisher=Humana Press |location=Totowa, NJ |year=2006 |page=222 |isbn=978-1-58829-721-1 }}</ref> Obesity has thus historically been viewed as a sign of wealth and prosperity. It was common among high officials in Ancient East Asian civilizations.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Keller K |title=Encyclopedia of Obesity |publisher=Sage Publications, Inc |location=Thousand Oaks, Calif |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4129-5238-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aRp2rJrEqZsC | page = 49}}</ref> In the 17th century, English medical author [[Tobias Venner]] is credited with being one of the first to refer to the term as a societal disease in a published English language book.<ref name=Haslam2007/><ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/fatboysslimbook00gilm|url-access=registration|quote=tobias venner obesity.|title=Fat Boys: A Slim Book| vauthors = Gilman SL |page=[https://archive.org/details/fatboysslimbook00gilm/page/18 18]|publisher= University of Nebraska Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8032-2183-3}}</ref>

With the onset of the [[Industrial Revolution]], it was realized that the military and economic might of nations were dependent on both the body size and strength of their soldiers and workers.<ref name=Caballero/> Increasing the average body mass index from what is now considered underweight to what is now the normal range played a significant role in the development of industrialized societies.<ref name=Caballero/> Height and weight thus both increased through the 19th&nbsp;century in the developed world. During the 20th century, as populations reached their genetic potential for height, weight began increasing much more than height, resulting in obesity.<ref name=Caballero/> In the 1950s, increasing wealth in the developed world decreased child mortality, but as body weight increased, heart and kidney disease became more common.<ref name=Caballero/><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Breslow L | title = Public health aspects of weight control | journal = American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health | volume = 42 | issue = 9 | pages = 1116–20 | date = September 1952 | pmid = 12976585 | pmc = 1526346 | doi = 10.2105/AJPH.42.9.1116 }}</ref>
During this time period, insurance companies realized the connection between weight and life expectancy and increased premiums for the obese.<ref name=HaslamJames/>

Many cultures throughout history have viewed obesity as the result of a character flaw. The ''obesus'' or fat character in [[Ancient Greek comedy]] was a glutton and figure of mockery. During Christian times, food was viewed as a gateway to the sins of [[Sloth (deadly sin)|sloth]] and [[lust]].<ref name=Woodhouse/> In modern Western culture, excess weight is often regarded as unattractive, and obesity is commonly associated with various negative stereotypes. People of all ages can face social stigmatization and may be targeted by bullies or shunned by their peers.<ref name=Bias2001>{{cite journal | vauthors = Puhl R, Brownell KD | title = Bias, discrimination, and obesity | journal = Obesity Research | volume = 9 | issue = 12 | pages = 788–805 | date = December 2001 | pmid = 11743063 | doi = 10.1038/oby.2001.108 | type = Review | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Public perceptions in Western society regarding healthy body weight differ from those regarding the weight that is considered ideal – and both have changed since the beginning of the 20th century. The weight that is viewed as an ideal has become lower since the 1920s. This is illustrated by the fact that the average height of Miss America pageant winners increased by 2% from 1922 to 1999, while their average weight decreased by 12%.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Rubinstein S, Caballero B | title = Is Miss America an undernourished role model? | journal = JAMA | volume = 283 | issue = 12 | pages = 1569 | year = 2000 | pmid = 10735392 | doi = 10.1001/jama.283.12.1569 | type = Letter }}</ref> On the other hand, people's views concerning healthy weight have changed in the opposite direction. In Britain, the weight at which people considered themselves to be overweight was significantly higher in 2007 than in 1999.<ref name=John2008>{{cite journal | vauthors = Johnson F, Cooke L, Croker H, Wardle J | title = Changing perceptions of weight in Great Britain: comparison of two population surveys | journal = BMJ | volume = 337 | pages = a494 | date = July 2008 | pmid = 18617488 | pmc = 2500200 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.a494 }}</ref> These changes are believed to be due to increasing rates of adiposity leading to increased acceptance of extra body fat as being normal.<ref name=John2008/>

Obesity is still seen as a sign of wealth and well-being in many parts of Africa. This has become particularly common since the [[HIV]] epidemic began.<ref name=HaslamJames/>