For centuries, the human race struggled to overcome
food scarcity, disease, and a hostile environment. With
the onset of the industrial revolution, the great powers understood
that increasing the average body size of the population
was an important social and political factor. The
military and economic might of countries was critically
dependent on the body size and strength of their young
generations, from which soldiers and workers were drawn.
Moving the body mass index (BMI) distribution of the population
from the underweight range toward normality had
an important impact on survival and productivity, playing
a central role in the economic development of industrialized
societies (1).