This is the Venus of Willendorf, a statuette of a large female figure dating back to 25,000 BCE. This figurine is not unique; primordial images of obese people as symbols of fertility, beauty and worship can be found all around the world. It’s not clear whether these were mere symbols, or real people, but it’s clear that in certain ancient cultures, obesity was something to behold. It wasn’t long until obesity became associated with negative health. The ancient greek physician, Hippocrates wrote about the negative effects of obesity way back in 500 BCE and the Bible similarly took a harsh attitude towards overeating after gluttony was canonized as one of the Seven Deadly Sins. But this didn’t stop obesity from being seen as a positive in cultures around the world. Fattening has been used as a practice everywhere from Afghanistan to Tahiti to make young men and women ready for marriage, and the famous 17th century artist Peter Paul Rubens painted beautiful and fat depictions of myt...