An absurd craze

From ‘Keeping fat’ by Geoffrey Wheatcroft, 7 October 1978: The running craze is a symptom of our deplorable age, in particular of our obsession with health, slimness, fitness and, above all, longevity. Jogging is not only undignified but absurd. It is a confession that people feel that they lead displeasingly unhealthy lives, but are not prepared to do anything preventative, rather than remedial, about it. The answer for someone who thinks that he is overweight is to eat less for a while, not to leap around at unseemly exercises. And the way to eat less is, simply, to eat less.