A Reorientation on Obesity

DURING the past half-century, investigation of the problem of obesity has followed two distinct lines: that of the intermediary metabolism and that of the energy exchange. It would be natural to expect that the two types should merge and support each other in a unified concept of obesity, for, if a defect in the intermediary metabolism causes ingested food to be diverted to storage as excess fat, the total energy exchange should reflect this abnormality. Actually, however, two schools of thought have arisen and contended through the years, and it has only recently become possible to reconcile them. It is . . .