Obesity may be defined as a nutritional state in which the storage of fat exceeds the amount that is commonly considered an expression of adequate alimentation. It is understood that the inordinate intake of food is only one factor among many which are important in the development of obesity. Some of the other factors have been or will be discussed in detail in other papers of this series. At present, I take their existence for granted but shall deliberately neglect them in this paper, wishing to focus attention on the dietary factor.
My observations will be presented in three sections, representing different aspects of the problem. In the first part the amount and composition of the food consumed, as described by the children and their parents, will be reported. Since the intake of food is a function of the body which does not occur entirely automatically but is influenced by