Vox Rationis - 

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Early 1800s

Devotees of the poet Byron adopt his horror of fat as symbolising dullness and lethargy.

According to American writer George Beard, "Our young ladies live all their growing girlhood in semi-starvation" because of a fear of "incurring the horror of the disciples of Lord Byron."

Beard, G. (1871) Eating and Drinking. New York. USA. cited in Brumberg, J.J. (1988) Fasting Girls; The emergence of anorexia nervosa as a modern disease. Harvard University Press. USA.