It is no longer stylish to be fat, and it is decidedly unwise and unsafe. One trouble with fat people is that they not only become physically indolent, but they often become mentally lazy. If you think a minute you can remember individuals, from laborers up to presidents, who have failed because of fat. Politics aside, it is unwise to vote for a fat man because he is liable to drop dead any minute, and besides he often lacks the energy to put his good resolutions into practice.

R.L. Alsaker, M. D. Eating for Health and Efficiency, 1917.