Inbox

Obesity and American Kids
I note a remarkable similarity among the children in your excellent article "Watching What They Eat": an alarming lack of supervision or structure, resulting in indiscriminate snacking and imbalanced diets [June 23]. The juvenile-obesity epidemic cannot be conquered until breakfast and dinner become daily family events with parental modeling.
Raj U. Dugel, M.D.,
Los Angeles

As a physician, I believe obesity is a far greater public-health hazard than tobacco. It is associated with an increase in cancer, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, skin problems, depression, gastrointestinal disorders, heart failure — the list goes on. We should attack obesity exactly as we have gone after tobacco — with a national advertising campaign, more self-help groups, taxes on certain foods and the right to sue food manufacturers and restaurants.
John M.R. Kuhn, M.D.,
Weston, Wisconsin

I face several daily battles to keep junk food out of my 3-year-old daughter's mouth, and she's not the only one I'm battling. The prevailing attitude seems to be that children cannot go longer than half an hour without eating. Everywhere my daughter goes, from preschool to library story time to gymnastics class, she is bombarded with sweets, prepackaged snacks and "juice" boxes containing nothing but empty and unhealthy calories. When society makes it so difficult to limit unhealthy foods, it's no wonder that we are facing an obesity epidemic among children.
Kimberly Muschong,
Mason, Michigan

Well done, with one glaring omission: the causal connection between negative emotions and overeating. Children in lower socioeconomic areas don't have access to tennis lessons, nice clothes, iPods and whatever else they see other children enjoying, and that makes them feel bad. What they do have access to is cheap, fatty food. Eating it makes them feel better.
Joni Ravenna,
Palm Springs, California

According to the Oxford dictionary, obese means "grossly fat," and gross means "repulsive." No wonder parents are reluctant to accept that their child may be obese. The negative connotations of our terminology for overweight and obesity undermine efforts to help parents grapple with the implications of obesity for their children. My steadygrow program (www.steadygrow.com) offers an alternative, inclusive terminology based on weight zones A0 to A3+, the goal being A1. Wider use of this terminology will revolutionize our ability to communicate healthy weight messages to parents and children.
Dr. Felicity Breen,
Havelock, New Zealand

You have taken a multifaceted approach to reviewing the complex issue of childhood obesity. In all this, a key message from centuries ago, attributed to Greek philosopher Solon, needs to become resoundingly clear to parents, children and youth, educators and health practitioners: "Nothing in excess."
G.D. Gilmore,
La Crosse, Wisconsin

Zimbabwe's Turmoil
Prime Minister Robert Mugabe helped "liberate" the people of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe from white rule 30 years ago, but since then he has led them into an abyss of misery. His only goal has been to hang on to power — and while the Western world is shocked by his abuses, no other African leader has had the gumption to unequivocally condemn his tyranny and misrule.
Allan de Sousa,
Lisbon

It is time the first world took up arms to defend democracy against Mugabe, a dictator who suppresses freedom by torture and murder. If Western nations can fight to defend democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, then surely they can do the same in Zimbabwe, where a war against Mugabe and his supporters would be over in a week.
Colin Segal,
Sydney

Why am I not surprised to see your short item concluding that "The world must do more than watch the Zimbabwe crisis" followed by eight pages on U.S. politics? While the rest of the world falls apart, for you the election circus takes precedence.
Craig McNiven,
Johannesburg

Sex and the Selfish
The fanfare surrounding the Sex and the City movie starkly illustrates our society's shameful self-indulgence [June 23]. This film is, at its core, about four women who are bent on pleasing themselves without accepting responsibility for the consequences. The same kind of selfishness is undermining our society. We want what we want, and we want it now. If that hurts someone else, well, tough. I hope the film's stars and producers will be donating their profits to help the poor and abused.
Danny Lean,
Brisbane, Queensland