Couch Potatoes Need Apply

Wanted: couch potato of average weight willing to pig out and put on pounds. Pay: $1,000. Apply to the Mayo Clinic.

Clinic researchers are having a tough time finding eight people to fill a control group for a metabolism study investigating why some people can’t gain weight no matter how much they eat.

Finding the right subjects is proving difficult, said Dr. James Levine, director of the study. The clinic has been swamped by calls from people who can’t gain weight or are overweight to begin with.

But people of average weight who get heavier when they overeat are reluctant to stuff themselves for the study’s sake, he said. To him, preliminary findings show that all Americans are neurotic about body image: “You are what you look like.”

Interested people must be 25 to 40, live in the Rochester area, partake in moderate regular exercise and be taking no medications. Call the clinic at (507) 255-7316.