%0 Journal Article
%T ¡®Build Ups¡¯ and ¡®Slim Downs¡¯: Re-shaping America, 1945¨C1970
%A Elizabeth Matelski
%J Skepsi
%D 2012
%I University of Kent
%X Dieting and fitness has transformed into a multibillion-dollar business in America. The preoccupation with exercise and dieting as a way to achieve bodily perfection is certainly not merely a modern creation of the twenty-first century. At the turn of the twentieth century, however, being underweight, not overweight, was the leading concern of medical doctors. The article chronicles how America changed from a ¡®build up¡¯ to a ¡®slim down¡¯ nation. In the years after World War II, slimming down became a national obsession. Starting in the early 1950s, Americans, particularly women, dieted and exercised their way towards skinnier, firmer and trimmer figures, due to a tightened relationship between fashion, foreign policy, insurance figures and medical opinion.
%K body
%K weight
%K exercise
%K dieting
%K women
%K teens
%K magazines
%U https://dl.dropbox.com/u/8274824/v05i01/PDFS/Skepsi%200501-2012%20-%20%27Build%20Upsa£¿£¿%20and%20a£¿£¿Slim%20Downsa£¿£¿-%20Re-shaping%20America%2C%201945a£¿£¿1970-Matelski.pdf