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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Thanks For All The Come-Backs

Ann Landers Creators Syndicate

Dear Ann Landers: Our country has gone nuts about diet and weight loss, and you didn’t help much to restore sanity to this goofed-up picture when you told that overweight woman to get counseling.

I am 50 pounds overweight, and I feel a lot better physically than I did when I was down to my so-called “ideal” weight. Please get off this subject and on to one you know something about. - Newton, Kan.

Dear Newt: Thanks for the clobber. Apparently, a lot of readers agree with you. Keep reading:

Dear Ann: Do you know that four out of five fourth-grade girls have already been on a diet? Those are 10-year-olds! Today’s models weigh 23 percent less than the average woman. When I gave up dieting, it was a conscious decision to stop obsessing about my imperfections and focus on my attributes. I’m a lot happier now. Please use my name. - Barbara in Mechanicville, N.Y.

From Astoria, Ore.: Why are you helping promote the idea that life is not worth living unless you are thin? I weigh 55 pounds more than the charts say I should, but I feel a heck of a lot better than I did when I was 60 pounds lighter. I’d rather be fat and happy than thin and miserable.

Milan, Minn.: Get a clue, Ann! There are fat people all over the world who are healthy and happy. They fight a constant battle to maintain their self-esteem against a barrage of misinformation promoted by people like you who keep saying we are unhealthy, unhappy and emotionally distraught. There’s nothing wrong with me, so what’s YOUR problem?

Eureka, Calif.: Going on diets will not make unhealthy fat people healthier. In fact, such attempts may not even make them thinner because most diets result in eventual weight gain. It’s called the yo-yo syndrome. Shame on you.

No City, Texas: I’ve waged war with the bathroom scale for 19 years and been on every diet imaginable. I’ll lose 20 pounds and gain it back plus another 10. People like me who are 100 pounds overweight wish people like you understood that we have a biological flaw. We were born with a “fat gene.”

Flushing, Ohio: Where have you been, Ann? It has been proven that most fat problems are genetic. They now know that obesity is caused by a chemical that is lacking in the brain. Educate yourself, girl.

Vallejo, Calif.: Yes, I’m fat, and I don’t appreciate your telling me to “get counseling.” If you want to help people like me, find out why all medical plans will treat the results of obesity (for example, hip and knee replacements after the joints are irreparably damaged), but if you ask for help with your weight, they will refer you to a dietitian and offer a small discount at a gym.

Chicago: Fat people do not need advice. They need love, compassion and acceptance. You didn’t help them much. Tortola, British Virgin Islands: If I hear one more person say, “Lose some weight, you have such a pretty face,” I’ll scream.

Riverside, Calif.: You keep wanting to send us “fatties” for counseling. Some of us who eat out of frustration or “nervousness” would like to go, and we would if your friends in the counseling business lowered their rates.

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