“DON’T CARRY TOO MUCH FAT.”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18149, 7 May 1927, Page 4

“DON’T CARRY TOO MUCH FAT.”

MUSCULAR EXERCISE IS WORTH A TRIAL. FENCING, LAWN TENNIS, SKIPPING, ALL HELP TO MAKE YOU LIGHTER. (By W. T. CHRISTIE, M.D., London.) Fat comes from the fuel fbods. Obviously, it cannot come from the air we breathe, nor the water wc drink; yet we are often told by stout persons that they eat nothing at all. Fat is Nature’s reserve of fuel for the human furnace, laid down during times of plenty for use during periods of poverty when food supplies run short. In

these civilised days, there is no need for fat storage on account of food shortage; fuel can be bought with shillings and pence, the world's granary bring more than equal to the daily demand. We have travelled so far from nomadic c onditions that human larders can. and

ought to be, kept comparatively empty. Modem man needs to carry only that amount of fat which allows of perfect health and physical activity. For some persons this is an easy matter, for they are “ food spendthrifts” by nature: they are the lean kind. For others, it is difficult, because they are “food hoarders” bv nature. If these eat more of the fuel foodstuffs than is necessary to support a healthy body, thev will pay the price of dietetic folly in the state of their own persons, while the former, equally culpable, will “get away with it.”

For those, who belong to the fat kind, an early recognition of their type is of paramount importance, if thev are to maintain their bodies in the fonn and shape conferred on them by the Creator. It is easier to prevent surplus fat from accumulating than to remove it.

When the ideal weight has been exceeded l.v 15 per cent, the food hoarder is declared to be “ obese,” a reduction

cure being then inaugurated, whereas treatment should have been applied during the previous years, when, by the addition of a pound or two per month, he was qualifying for admission to the

“ Fat Man’s Club.” Social disadvantages, physical inefficiency and a shortened tenure of earthly existence are the so-called privileges of membership. The club was raided during the late war by the American Food Administration, which posted this notice on its doors:—

“ Corpulent Citizens! Burn your Own Fat, and Save Fuel for the Nation’s Fighters.”

The writer has a scrap-book filled with details of anti-obesity cures, most of which ignore the fact that corpulence is the direct result of consuming more of the carbohydrate and fatty elements in the food than is needed for the body furnace. Food hoarders must learn to become food faddists in one particular way at least—they must learn the respective strengths of the various articles of diet, and feed their bodies in accordance with their activities.

We are told that the game of eountr ing calories is played with meticulous care bv the film stars at Hollywood, the fuel value of each item of food being printed against its name on the menu. The plan can be recommended to all those who may become too heavily upholstered, as well as to those whose livelihood depends on the preservation of a slim silhouette.

But cutting the calories is not the only consideration in planning a “preventive diet.” It must be balanced, too. The amount of protein consumed must be sufficient to protect the muscles and internal organs from the ravages of wear and tear. Since the cannot be isolated in pepper pots and shaken on to our plates, the foods on whose backs they are borne must be carefully included. The nondigestiblc materials, called “ roughage ” by our American colleagues, are increased to fill the holes and corners in an empty stomach: while flavouring agents, or appetisers, are reduced to a minimum.

Besides limiting the intake of calories, plump persons should also aim at expending them. The most natural, while also the most rapid, dissipator of heat and energy is muscular exercise. Those who live under the shadow of obesity should remember this slogan: “The less inclined for exercise I feel, the more my body needs it.” Reducing exercise should always be pleasurable. It must therefore be prescribed according to individual tastes and predilections. In general, rapid muscular movements bum more calories than slow, deliberate ones. For this reason, fancing, skipping, squash, racquets, gymnastics, badminton and lawn tennis are good. In the case of women, muscular movements performed under the direction of an instructress are advantageous; the learning of stage and ballet dances, whose rapid movements arc better adapted to fat destruction than ball-room dancing, is amusing, and stretches the intelligence as well as the muscles. While the ol.cse must exercise with caution, those who are merely standing on the threshold of corpulence can use the muscular system with groat advantage to their general well-being and to the destruction of fat. Various other methods of expending calories could be cited, but Nature’s way is preferable to all artificial means. Of the many ailments to which man is prone, corpulence, constipation and carious teeth are perhaps the most common. The public mind has awakened to the danger of the two last, but the first has escaped much of the attention which it deserves.