> On Tue, 24 Jun 1997, Art De Vany wrote:
>
><snip>

> Given the seasonal variation in the fat content of big game in the
> upper paleolithic (I stand corrected for using "paleolithic" rather
> too broadly, thanks to Andrew Millard's excellent posting), a
> selectively favorable adaptation would have been a weak appetite
> suppression from the consumption of fat.  Fattening up for the
> winter by over-feeding on summer-fattened animals at the seasonal
> peak of caloric abundance would have been adaptive.
>
> Is the wide-spread, and seemingly culturally universal, antipathy
> to obesity also a selective strategy that stems from the impending
> dietary stress at the onset of winter?

Antipathy to obesity is not a cultural universal.  In fact, I believe it is
primarily a recent phenomenon confined largely to the world of Western
European and descendant populations.  Take a look at indigenous
representational art from around the world--including that of the European
Upper Paleolithic.  Assuming that artistic representations are often (if
not always) embodiments of the aesthetic sensibilities of a culture, body
fat is not/has not been cross-culturally reviled as either unhealthy or
unattractive.  In fact, many traditional cultures consider obesity to be a
sign of prosperity and therefore desirable in a potential spouse.  I am not
a cultural anthropologist, and I don't have the references right at hand,
but I can find them if necessary.  There is no doubt that many dietary
practices that are adaptive in some way are supported by cultural values.
I am just questioning the generalization about attitudes toward obesity.