Obesity and the Emergence of Mutual Aid Groups for Weight Loss in the Post-War United States

By the 1950s, American medical authorities declared obesity to be the nation's leading health care problem prompting a society, already familiar with the rigours of weight control, to extend the bounds of their diet consciousness. This manifested in a ‘self-help movement for fatties’ which witnessed the proliferation of weight loss groups with names such as, Take Off Pounds Sensibly and Fatties Anonymous, and introduced an eclectic blend of mutual aid inspired by Alcoholics Anonymous and psychoanalytic psychiatry. This paper explores the emergence of these mutual aid groups in response to the growing concern about obesity and argues that the rise of weight loss groups was the result of many separate but interacting variables in the context of the post-war United States. The history of the self-help weight loss movement can offer new perspectives on the politics of current obesity management policies, as well as insight into mid-twentieth-century popular culture.

Source: Social History of Medicine - October 28, 2014 Category: History of Medicine Authors: Parr, J. M. Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research