Letter: People responsible for their own weight

Monday, Jan. 16, 2006 | 8:28 a.m.

Foster Eubank, in his Jan. 13 letter, writes how the various "professions rub their collective hands together in glee at the money they will make" off the obese. How typical of American society to throw blame everywhere but in the mirror.

The reason people are obese is because they can't control their cravings and don't exercise, not advertising. America was (and is) a part of the free market system, and if enterprising individuals seek to provide a service to help obese Americans (pretty soon the two words will mean the same thing) try to lose weight, then more power to them.

Until people stop looking for that quick fix or magic pill for weight loss, and buckle down and accept responsibility for their condition, these programs will never work. Determination and strength of will determine success.

We hear of formerly 300-pound people slimming down to 130 pounds on talk shows, commercials, cable shows. I know one personally. These results are not typical because typically people don't follow through. The formula for losing weight for 90 percent of the obese people in American society has been, and still is, moderate your food intake and expend more calories than you take in.

But for the majority of Americans, that's just too bitter a pill to swallow.

Dan Heffley

Las Vegas