[Sidenote: Overweight]

If there is a family tendency to overweight, one should begin early to
form habits that will check this tendency. If considerable overweight is
already present, caution is necessary in bringing about a reduction.
Barring actual disease, this can usually be done without drugs if the
person will be persevering and faithful to a certain regime.

Constant vigilance is necessary, yet it is worth while when one
considers the inconvenience as well as the menace of obesity.

After the age of 35, 15 to 20 pounds over the average weight should
prompt one to take careful measures for reducing weight. Habits should
be formed that will keep the weight down automatically, instead of
relying upon intermittent attempts that are more than likely to fail. No
matter how well one feels, one should take steps to keep out of the
class that life insurance companies have found to be undesirable as
risks.

[Sidenote: Accessories]

One reason why many people eat great quantities of food without
realizing it, is the common delusion that many articles such as candy,
fruits, nuts, peanuts, popcorn, often eaten between meals, "do not
count." Another common oversight is to overlook accessories, such as
butter and cream, which may contain more actual food value than all the
rest of a meal put together. Ice-cream and other desserts also have more
food value than is usually realized. Nature counts every calory very
carefully. If the number of calories taken in exceeds the number used by
the body (or excreted unused), the excess accumulates in fat or tissue.
Thus, if some 3,000 calories are taken in each day and the calories used
up or excreted are only 2,800, then 200 must be retained and accumulated
in the body.

[Sidenote: Underweight]

A person who is not heavy enough can usually gain weight by following
the general rules of hygiene, especially in the matter of increasing the
fuel or energy foods. But he should not force himself to eat beyond his
natural capacity to digest and assimilate the food, while overfatigue
and exhausting physical exertion should be carefully avoided.

[Sidenote: Diet in Middle Life]

As age advances, the consumption of meat and all flesh foods should be
decreased and that of fruit and vegetables, especially those of bulky
character and low food value, such as lettuce, tomatoes, carrots,
turnips, salsify, oyster-plant, watercress, celery, parsnips, should be
increased.

[Sidenote: Diet in