However, the same study also showed that obesity alone is a risk factor, in fact, an even greater risk factor than inactivity because coronary disease risk was highest for women who exercised the least and had the greatest waist-to–hip ratio. The conclusion that obesity itself is a risk factor is also supported by a study of 5881 overweight and obese individuals which showed that being overweight increased the risk of heart disease by 34%, while being obese increased the risk to 104%.

What can we do to help someone we know who is obese or dangerously overweight?

Acknowledgement of the problem is the first step. Very often, individuals are in a state of denial about the seriousness of their weight situation. A visit to the doctor or a healthcare professional who deals with the morbidly obese is essential. So are visits to a nutritionist, fitness consultant and body work therapist. Only then can the individual be presented with options viable and necessary for his or her situation.

In severe cases of obesity, surgery would be part of the solution. Lifestyle changes that include exercise and healthy eating are more than essential. Just as critical are bodywork therapies that can uncover some of the real issues behind addictive eating. Learning to read body cues of hunger, depression, stress is equally important for re-mapping a new life and a whole new cartography of food and consciousness, body and mind.

In Titian’s day, the corpulent body was an idealized figure on canvass, essentially exiled to the realm of the fantastic or the realm of the unjust in a society where hunger was the norm. In our days, the corpulent body has its own tale to tell: a Quasimodo that is both the scourge and product of a culture addicted to perfection.

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