Fighting the War on Fat

After reading “War on Fat Gets Serious” (Jan. 3), I am wondering, will I now be sued by the recipients of my wonderful holiday cookies? Will I have to ask my guests to sign a waiver when invited to dinner for my osso buco, filet of beef with creamy peppercorn sauce and side of horseradish cream?

Is there one of us who sat down to eat a giant hot fudge sundae or banana split who thought it would never end up on our hips or our hearts? Puleeez!

Perhaps we should posthumously sue my mother for her Southern fried chicken, hot apple crisp or sumptuous butter cookies. Or perhaps we should unearth her for allowing the Krispy Kreme delivery truck to stop by our house not once but twice a week, when we were kids. A mother, by the way, who lived to be 95 with no diabetes or fat-related health problems, who ate bacon at every breakfast and butter at every meal.

I suggest to state Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) and the rest of her brood who are interested in controlling the world’s fat and soda consumption: Get a life! Better yet, focus your energies and our dollars on prevention of child abuse and education of parents. Watching what the kids eat in school is a good idea, but stay away from us adults, OK? Let us take some responsibility for our own actions, stomachs, health and lives.

Susan Beckman Schwarz

Sherman Oaks

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The war on fat that some in government have decided to wage in the court of public opinion is misguided in its approach. It assumes that Americans have alternative healthful food choices that are as vast as the street corner fast-food chains. It denies the fact that an estimated 90% of food produced and purchased in America is processed.

The goal of food manufacturers and fast-food chains alike over the last 50 years has been one of making canned, dehydrated and frozen food palatable, not healthy. Americans have over the last 50 years become among the most obese people on the planet due to our need to more quickly and cheaply produce food. This has occurred in conjunction with the proliferation of processed food manufacturing and fast-food chains.

Given the fact that we already have 44 million citizens without health insurance, I personally do not want to be saddled with additional billions in costs due to corporate irresponsibility and American obesity. That said, I do not entirely blame individual Americans for this national epidemic. It is clear that the American capitalist axiom of bigger, better and faster has at least achieved its first goal. Hopefully, we will begin to inject “better” into the national food dialogue.

Bill Harrison

Los Angeles

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Seems as if there is finally something being done about obesity and overeaters.

Since the advent of no-smoking legislation, no-smoking signs are pasted up or printed everywhere. It’s about time they put up signs on restaurants saying, “If you’re more than five pounds overweight, don’t come in.” Smokers are treated like criminals, and obese people laugh all the way to the doctor. They have more illnesses than smokers, and they’re growing, pound by pound. Wake up, overeaters. You didn’t get that way just looking at food. Let the overeaters take a long look in the mirror before badmouthing or blaming anyone but themselves.

Yolanda Graspo

Los Angeles

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So the insurance companies are waiting in the wings to charge more for overweight individuals. Thin people can also have high BMIs, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Overeating and eating fast food aren’t the only contributing factors to obesity. How about the fact that children aren’t as active as previous generations, due to the introduction of video games and other sedentary technological advances? What about illness and accidents that contribute to less mobility, like arthritis?

I worked on the assembly line for General Motors, long before the concept of ergonomics, and have arthritis in my knees, back, neck, elbows and wrists. As a result, my options for exercise and activity are limited.

Am I overweight? Yes. Am I aware of it and always trying to lose weight? Yes. Should I be punished by having to pay more for my health insurance? No.

Linda Arroz

Studio City

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Your article neglected to address an important aspect of this serious health issue: that this issue is in large part a class war. If you are one of the nearly 14 million city residents living in poverty in the U.S. (earning $18,556 or less a year for a household of four), you have little choice but to purchase food at a nearby convenience store stocked with candy, beer and soda, or [eat] at one of the number of fast-food restaurants that proliferate in these neighborhoods.

Marion Nestle, author of “Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health,” says that the “food environment in the inner city is hopeless.” Large supermarket chains have abandoned less-affluent city neighborhoods. The poor are limited by their choices -- buying food at markets where the produce is of inferior quality and more expensive -- or at fast-food restaurants or convenience stores. The epidemic of obesity among the poor represents a large segment of the population for whom obesity is a problem.

Lynn K. Jones

Santa Barbara

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Successful efforts to reduce smoking and the current effort to address diet and weight issues are both worthy topics. What about alcoholism in our society? Why is it socially acceptable for adults to drink alcohol? Far too often the result includes motor vehicle accidents, boating accidents, sexual assaults and serious health issues. We need to make effective change on this issue as well.

Cheryl Kohr

Redondo Beach