USA Fat Camp (1940)

The 1940 USA Fat Camp newsreel from British Pathé (Film ID: 1206.04) showcases a women’s weight loss camp in America run along quasi military lines. The footage features larger women taking part in regimented outdoor drills, group exercises and supervised routines designed to reduce weight. Alongside more conventional calisthenics, the film highlights a range of curious slimming devices typical of the era, reflecting contemporary beliefs about health and body shaping. As with many Pathé productions of the time, the piece is edited as a short cinema news feature with a scripted, tongue in cheek voiceover that treats the subject with light humour while presenting it as a novelty human interest story.