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Obesity: a Lesson from the Venus of Willendorf Donald E University of Kentucky UKnowledge Pediatrics Faculty Publications Pediatrics 2008 Obesity: A Lesson from the Venus of Willendorf Donald E. Greydanus Michigan State University Dilip R. Patel Michigan State University Hatim A. Omar University of Kentucky, [email protected] Joav Merrick University of Kentucky Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits oy u. Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/pediatrics_facpub Part of the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, and the Pediatrics Commons Repository Citation Greydanus, Donald E.; Patel, Dilip R.; Omar, Hatim A.; and Merrick, Joav, "Obesity: A Lesson from the Venus of Willendorf" (2008). Pediatrics Faculty Publications. 256. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/pediatrics_facpub/256 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Pediatrics at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pediatrics Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Obesity: A Lesson from the Venus of Willendorf Notes/Citation Information Published in International Journal of Child Health and Human Development, v. 1, issue 4, p. 331-333. © 2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. The opc yright holder has granted permission for posting the article here. This article is available at UKnowledge: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/pediatrics_facpub/256 International Journal of Child Health and Human Development ISSN: 1939-5965 Volume 1, Issue 4 (Special Issue) © 2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Obesity: A Lesson from the Venus of Willendorf Professor Donald E Greydanus, MD Obesity is often linked to the development of so- Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State called "thrifty" genes that allowed some humans to University College of Human Medicine, survive for millions of years in the face of the Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. constant threat of starvation due to persistent lack of E-mail: [email protected] available food. This adaptive response was important to the survival of homo sapiens, because it allowed Professor Dilip R Patel, MD the development of heightened ability to store Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State precious and limited calories in the form of fat University College of Human Medicine, Kalamazoo, deposits in the body. One of the earliest art figures of Michigan, United States. E-mail: [email protected] the human figure is the Venus of Willendorf, a small (4 and 3/8 inch or 11.1 cm) Paleolithic figure housed Professor Hatim Omar, MD, FAAP in the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria Adolescent Medicine and Young Parent programs, (1). The Venus or Woman of Willendorf was Department of Pediatrics, Kentucky Children's Hospital, discovered by the Jewish archeologist, Josef University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Szombathy (1853-1943), in 1908. It depicts a United States. E-mail: [email protected] pregnant woman with no face (typical of the Paleolithic era), who is also obese and dates back to Professor Joav Merrick, MD, MMedSci, 22,000 to 24,000 BCE. This Nude Woman of DMSc Willendorf suggests that obesity was a normal, National Institute of Child Health and Human desirable, and even idealized feature of being human Development, Office of the Medical Director, Division and/or being a female. for Mental Retardation, Ministry of Social Affairs, This idea of the desirability of obesity is repeated Jerusalem and Kentucky Children's Hospital, University in society throughout the existence of homo sapiens of Kentucky, Lexington, United States. for thousands of years, until the 20th century. E-Mail: [email protected]. Paintings, for example, by the Flemish artist, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) are consistent with the positive notion of being overweight or obese (2). The famous 1625 Rubens painting "Arrival of Marie de' Medici at Marseilles, France" at the Louve Museum in Paris clearly depicts the wealthy of the 17th century as being overweight. Likewise, his "Allegory of the outbreak of war" in 1638 depicts the theme of chronic war in Europe, which can be seen at the Pitti Gallory of Florence, Italy and reveals that healthy supernatural and human beings are obese. Negative reactions to obesity are found in the 20th and now the 21st century after countless centuries of positive reactions to those who had enough food to be overweight or obese. Scientific literature of the past generation are repleat with 332 Donald E Greydanus, Di lip R Patel, Hatim Omar and Joav Merrick articles bemoaning the high prevalence of obesity in want them in the first place (4). Measures employed the American and the world's population-including by clinicians willing to "help" their obese patients are children, adolescents, and adults. Various methods are often unproven, unhelpful, and potentially harmful to used to identify obesity, including body mass index their patients. (BMI), triceps skinfold thickness (TST), bioelectrical Indeed, what are the ethics of obesity impedance analysis, dual x-ray absorptiometry and management for the health care professionals of others. Many studies using these various methods today? (4 ). Perhaps proper obesity management suggest a prevalence of obesity of over 20% in the begins with an examination of why obesity was United States, Europe, Asia, China, India, and many desired for so many centuries, an acceptance that other countries (3). obesity is not the patient's fault, that many The result is that millions of obese children, overweight/obese individuals are happy as well as adolescents, and adults are seeking to lose weight healthy, and that the economics of current obesity using methods that are often unsuccessful in the short "treatment" must be reexamined and reconfigured or long run. In 2003, the US Surgeon General noted (4,6). As we debate various diets and the role of food that "Obesity is the terror within ... as real as weapons intake in obesity management, the role of physical of mass destruction .... " (4). Governement, insurance, exercise for all homo sapiens must be remembered and medical officials complain about the high medical and emphasized (7-10). costs incurred in the United States because of obesity. The weight loss industry has become a multi-billion dollar endeavor that employs a large number of References individuals to help many unsuccessfully lose weight, sell costly "weight-loss" products, and support l. McDermott L. Self-representation in upper hospitals developing expensive bariatric programs. Paleolithic female figurines. Curr Anthropol Weight loss programs have sprung up in the United I 996;37(2):227-75. States and elsewhere making millions of dollars 2. Belkin KL. Reubens: Art and ideas. New York: despite no research evidence for significant weight Phaidon, 1998. loss in the long run. 3. Rowlett JR. Obesity in the adolescent. In: A mantra has developed in the late 20th century Greydanus DE, Patel DR, Pratt HD, eds Essential and early 21st century that has an underlying bias adolescent medicine. New York: McGraw-Hill again overweight and obese individuals, who are Med Pub], 2006:651-65. blamed for their "disease" and told by society to lose 4. Fleck LM, Petersmarck KA. Ethical weight or suffer the consequences. Art was used from considerations related to obesity intervention" In: 22,000 BC through the 19th century to glorify Fitzgerald HE, Mousouli V, eds. Obesity in obesity, while art of the current era vilifies or mocks childhood and adolescence. Westport, CT: obesity. Fernando Botero ( 1932-)(5) is a well-known Praeger, 2008:271-303. artist born in Medellin, Columbia, South America, 5. Sullivan EL, Tapest J. Fernando Botero: A who has become famous for his drawings using obese monograph and catalog at Raisonne painting. and morbidly obese subjects as a way of providing Lausanne, Switzerland: Acatos Pub!, 2000. satirical commentaries on contemporary life. 6. Burgard D. Blinded by BMI. Health at Every Size Considerable discrimination awaits the obese 2005; 19:45-53. child, adolescent, or adult in current society, whether 7. Phelan S. Diet: Obesity. In: Hillard PJA, ed. The in the form of bullying in school, limited social life, 5-m inute obstetrics and gynecology consult. or job refusal. Concern over obesity leads many youth Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott to unhealthy diet practices that involve starvation Williams Wilkins, 2008:274-5. and/or bulimic features. Some health care providers 8. Gardner CD. Comparison of the Atkins, Zone, admit to being repulsed by dealing with obese Ornish, and LEaRN diets for change in weight patients, who may be shuffled between various and related risk factors among overweight primary care clinicians and specialists who may not premenopausal women. JAMA 2007;297:969-77. A Lesson from the Venus of Willendorf 333 9. Greydanus DE, Bhave S. Obesity in the I 0. Greydanus DE, Bricker LA, Patel DR. The adolescent. Indian Pediatrics 2004;41(6):545-50. benefits of sports participation in childhood and adolescence to prevent obesity in adolescents and adults. Asian J Paediatr Pract 2006;9(4):l-7. .
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