Obesity of late years has assumed great importance in the eyes of both the physician and the public. The problem is being discussed not only in the medical literature but also by insurance writers and the lay press. It has been statistically proved by Dublin,1Fisk2and others that the mortality rate of obese persons is higher than the average. Surgeons and physicians have known for years that the prognosis of a fat patient is poorer than that of a normal person when the former is subjected to the risks of an operation, of pneumonia, or of kidney or heart disease, and the condition has for a long time been associated with diabetes, hypertension and gallstones by such writers as Dublin,1Foster,3Joslin4and Preble.5 Obesity can no longer be looked on merely as a symptom or sign but must be considered as a