Donuts? Just walk on by
Re: [“Heavy Habits,” Jan. 14] What a depressing article! Are we headed down the path where government dictates how we eat, when we eat, what we eat, what we drive, what we wear, whom we marry and where we live? These “ideas” sound like a frightening science-fiction movie about a future society of automatons who have no brains, because they aren’t needed.
People are fat because they eat too damn much. Period!
Terry Schauer
Westlake Village
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Here’s what I think should be a policy -- even a law -- for the sake of the nation’s health: Restaurants should offer half portions or “reduced portions” of their items for 75% of the full-portion price. By and large, if people don’t have the large portion in front of them, they will eat less -- and save money over time.
Ken Hense Marina Del Rey
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One reason we eat more of the wrong foods is that they are more readily available and cost less than healthy choices. When an airport salad costs $11 and a Whopper costs $4, which one will a hungry, price-conscious traveler choose?
Barbery Byfield
Los Angeles
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I believe food is the same as any addictive substance. But food is dangerous because we can’t quit “using” it.
Could you imagine if drug abusers tried to kick their habit by using different drugs that were legally available at any public building and corner market, from friends and co-workers, or could be grown in your backyard?
Phil Pool
West Burlington, Iowa
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When I was a psychology major in college, I remember studying a theory called the “locus of control” by social scientist Julian B. Rotter. This theory explains that some people’s control mechanisms are internal (I did it to myself), whereas others’ are external (The world did it to me).
When it comes to the issue of eating, those who listen to internal cues (our hypothalamus signaling satiation) don’t have problems with overeating. Those who listen to the external rely on the environmental cues and have a tendency to overeat. I think that part of our problem with eating is that many people have been conditioned to disregard internal cues and respond only to external cues.
Judy Ki
San Diego