Girth of a Nation

Congratulations for taking on a major social issue in your report on overweight Americans [Cover Story, Jan. 16]. While the leading reasons for obesity continue to be studied, there can be little argument that it is caused largely by an excess of food, insufficient exercise and a growing lack of self-respect. Time to shape up, America!

Robert B. Craig Eatontown, New Jersey

Many Americans have simply given up on the battle of the bulge. The stringent diets and ``no pain, no gain'' exercise ethic of the '80s are probably the reason. The only way to successfully manage weight and achieve better health and fitness is through life-style changes in exercise and eating habits. People should look for fun, easy ways to get more active every day. The key is for them to pick exercise activities they enjoy, because they are more likely to stick to them. Crash diets and fanatical exercise regimes simply do not foster adherence.

Sheryl Marks Brown, Executive Director American Council on Exercise San Diego

Thanks for making me feel guilty when I ate my Big Mac this evening. Why is it that every time something makes us feel better, someone tells us why it's going to kill us? Just once I'd like to read about a person who ate an extra- rich Haagen-Dazs Triple Brownie Overload and had a good time doing it. I am sick of America's ridiculous obsession with how we look and what we eat. Living is a dangerous business, and simple pleasures should not be denied. I for one plan to enjoy my fettuccine Alfredo. It's safer than driving on the freeway.

Gabe Mejias Alexandria, Virginia

Many, many Americans are woefully out of shape. However, it's a cop-out to blame McDonalds or the American automobile industry for our epidemic of obesity. The primary blame rests squarely upon those who lack the initiative to establish a reasonable personal-fitness program and who lack the discipline to monitor the quantity and quality of their food intake. The obese have few to blame for their condition but themselves.

Richard C. DesLauriers Jersey City, New Jersey AOL: RickD4382

A lot of what the food hucksters sell us is simply not good for our bodies. We need to learn to lust after fruits, vegetables, grains, lean meats and good health; only then will we lose weight and keep it off. If we have the right attitude, it will produce the right behavior.

Joyce Swartz Montesano, Washington AOL: TetraRon

An estimated 300,000 lives are lost each year because of obesity-related conditions, making obesity the second leading cause of death in the U.S. after tobacco smoking. Researchers put the cost of obesity at more than $100 billion annually. This includes $45.8 billion in such direct costs as hospital care and physicians' services; $33 billion in weight-reduction products and services; $18.9 billion in the indirect costs of lost output caused by death and disability; and $4.1 billion in workdays lost to obesity- related illness. Americans must change the way they think about obesity. It is no longer simply an appearance issue; it is a serious disease that warrants increased attention from the public-health community.

C. Joseph LaBonte, President and CEO Jenny Craig Del Mar, California

One way of battling the problem of fat: throw away the TV set. Nutritionists believe overweight people are particularly susceptible to external cues about food--and commercial TV offers a relentless barrage of such cues, showing creamy, crispy, salty, sugary, savory, toasty, melts-in-the-mouth, betcha- can't-eat-just-one concoctions. The dieter who wants to stop constantly thinking about food, yet spends each night in front of the tube, is doomed to failure.

David English Somerville, Massachusetts

As someone who just lost 28 lbs. in three months, I think the secret to weight loss is to write down everything you eat, listing the calories and fat grams for each item. This forces you to think about what you are eating. Next, make sure the calories and fat grams you consume are at a level that results in weight loss. This is not that difficult today, as we have fat-free cheese and potato chips (that are almost as good as the originals). With just a little discipline, most people should be able to lose weight and keep it off. Dan Seamon Apex, North Carolina

A Political and Military Mess

President Boris Yeltsin is sufficiently sophisticated to realize that his political survival is at stake as a result of actions in Chechnya [Russia, Jan. 16]. But it would be harmful for us to cynically view his motivation as solely political. He knows that instability in Russia alienates investors outside the country and that support and aid from the West and the International Monetary Fund are all at grave risk. Accordingly, it is highly doubtful Yeltsin would think he could boost his popularity by using force to suppress secession in Chechnya. Separatism in Russia is infectious! If Yeltsin resigns, does anyone seriously think his immediate successor would consent to free elections in Chechnya?

Elliott A. Cohen New York City

Last year Boris Yeltsin threatened the West with a ``cold peace'' if NATO extended its membership eastward toward Russia. Well, Yeltsin's cold peace has already begun in Chechnya.

Paul Etxeberri Reno, Nevada AOL: EUSKO

If Yeltsin has gone too far, he could lose his position to an opposition group, a more thoughtful and reliable choice for democratic Russia. But what if Yeltsin continues his strong line, breaking laws and violating human rights without any fear of legal reprisals? That would mean the worst possible scenario: a return to a totalitarian regime.

Robert Niczewski Warsaw

Again, as so often before, Russia has proved that it is in fact an ``evil empire.'' It is committing genocide in Chechnya. What's next? Estonia? Ukraine? When will the leaders of the free world realize the dangers of playing with the bear?

Jonas Kjellberg Alingsas, Sweden

The myth about the strength of the Soviet military was carefully nurtured by the West in order to build up its own military-industrial might. The debacle the Russians suffered at the hands of the Chechens has brought this lie to the fore.

Jaffer Khoonjee Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Failure of Justice?

How can we teach children a moral lesson when our own judicial system seems perverted and backward? While Jesse Jacobs may have been guilty of other crimes, he was not guilty of murdering Etta Ann Urdiales. But the state of Texas went ahead and executed him anyway [Justice, Jan. 16]. The Supreme Court needs to remember that not only does it decide issues of law, but it must also do what is right. How can the Justices sleep at night knowing they may be sentencing innocent people to death? This is just another example of how the U.S. legal system no longer holds to the idea of ``innocent until proved guilty'' but now adheres to ``guilty until proved innocent.''

Scott Mitcham Sedona, Arizona

I was a member of the jury that found Jesse Jacobs guilty of murder in 1987. I learned only recently that the Texas prosecutors had changed their theory of who was directly responsible for the gunshot that murdered Urdiales. To say that I found that news troubling would be a great understatement. At Jacobs' trial, it required considerable soul-searching before I could confidently vote for the verdict and sentence of death that the jury rendered. The news of Jacobs' execution required me to repeat that process. Yet having now done so, I am again satisfied that Jacobs' verdict and sentence of death were appropriate. Jacobs was sentenced to death because, in the unanimous opinion of the jury, the evidence produced at Jacobs' trial established his guilt and further established that death was his appropriate punishment under Texas law. I am not aware of what facts may have caused the state prosecutors to change their views when Jacobs' sister went on trial seven months later. What seems to have been lost in this discussion is the fact that under our system of justice, juries decide the facts of a case and must render their verdicts based upon the evidence before them at that time. The relevant fact is that Jacobs received the trial he deserved under the law of this country.

J. Kirk Brown Assistant Attorney General State of Nebraska Lincoln

I can't believe that you wasted an entire page whining about the execution of Jacobs. Kidnapping is a capital offense in many jurisdictions, and, as your story notes, under Texas law a co-conspirator to murder can be put to death. Jacobs was at least a party to this murder, so your sympathy is misplaced. Now the state should mete out similar justice to the 398 criminals still on death row, as a good example to timid authorities elsewhere in the country.

Frank G. Tatnall Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania

I can only agree with Mr. Bumble in Dickens' Oliver Twist, who maintained, ``The law is a ass, a idiot.'' And the biggest, most unethical asses of all are Texas officials who are more interested in convictions at any price than in justice.

Lewis Cetta Florence, Italy

Alike Under the Skin

your report on the newly published genetic atlas of the world [Science, Jan. 16] states that its conclusions flatten those of The Bell Curve. But The History and Geography of Human Genes is primarily a study of the distribution of human genes and presents a kind of ``global family tree.'' This is far from a study of the distribution of intelligence among human beings, which is the focus of Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein's book. All humans are closely related. Desperate attempts to reduce the impact of The Bell Curve [which holds that intelligence is determined by heredity, not environment] are so blatantly irresponsible as to be near to criminal.

Robert C. Reynolds Corrales, New Mexico

The Bell Curve and The History and Geography of Human Genes reach the same conclusion: races are remarkably similar, there being more difference among individuals within a race than among races. Therefore, the policy implications that ought to flow from both books are the same: justice should be color blind. Stop treating each race as if all its members were identical. That, specifically, is the burden of what The Bell Curve's authors ask.

Wayne P. Hughes Jr. Pacific Grove, California