What would Indy have really eaten?

Dinty Moore beef stew (probably still in the can) in his bachelor and absent-minded professor academic life, and monkey brains, German sausages, tabouleh, dates, pomegranate, Viennese pastries, linguine and a glass of prosecco, yak, and whatever other local food is available in his maverick archaeologist life.

And just round after round of shots, if he's with Marian.

The world would be a better place if people thought like Republicans in their personal lives and Democrats when dealing with others.

Take *yourself* to task with personal responsibility and hold *yourself* accountable.

When you meet others or hear their stories, however, step back and realize that you don't fully understand their situations. You'll be better off--and they will, too--if instead of judging them, you work to help them.

In this instance, Dr. Parikh's letter is right on--I'd like to see Lucas and Spielberg at least insist on healthy items being tagged with the tie-ins, and that's certainly within their power.

The world doesn't have to be either/or. Yes, people need to exercise personal responsibility; yes, we need some protections against corporate greed and the way the food industries have sabatoged our health. One does not preclude the other.

Dr. Rahul,

To a certain question in your letter, that of what Indy would have really eaten, um...have you ever taken a look at any 1940s or 50s cookbooks?

If Lucas wants to come full circle, the Indy of the 50s should be endorsing Mel's Drive-in, a la American Graffiti, and its far larger, more substantial, and I'm certain calorie-laden burgers than whatever little snack Burger King is hocking. Mel's is still around, by the way, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had their own Indy tie-in.

The trouble is not that Indy's face is used to peddle junk food, but that most American kids are too sedentary and aren't doing enough to burn up those extra calories.

My niece and nephew both eat far more junk food than I think they should, but they're both slim and healthy because they are both active in sports and have numerous trophies for skiing and snowboarding.

If you want children to not be so fat, the key ingredient is physical activity.

P.S.

Not having a clue into the causes? How many times and how many different ways can you say "eat less, exercise more?" Wait, I think...I think, I've discovered the cause of obesity! I'd like to thank the Nobel Committee....

Yeah, especially for those poison dates

Just a human, thanks for the touching story. I hear violins each time I read it. Maybe Salon ought to restrict responses to 250 words so we don't have to hear every victim's therapy story

one thing that's really changed is the serving size of fast food items. a small drink used to be 6-8oz and now it's 12-16oz. the same goes for french fries. that has an impact on weight no doubt.

I remember getting McDonald's glasses with movie characters, and getting toys related to all the then-current summer movies; it's not a new marketing ploy here people. What's different is that people have finally started associating fast food with all the health fall-out.

Gee? You think? You mean french fries and burgers from fast food aren't healthy? Come on.

As a kid, some 20 years ago, we all loved Happy Meals but the difference was that my parents made it a 'treat' and one that they didn't give us often. I can probably count the number of fast food nights we had on one hand. The rest of the time (and yes, BOTH my parents worked too) my dad or mom would cook for us; making sure things were healthy. We didn't get Coke or pop until our teen years and even then, it wasn't unlimited.

Bottom line; corporate America can pitch anything it wants to kids; but my toddlers aren't using the debit card, I am. Parents stock the pantries the last time I looked. How hard is it to say no and to set down expectations? Maybe little Jimmy's mom always hits Taco Bell, that's fine, we don't. Simple. Saying no in the Dorito aisle can pay off in having a healthy kid.

Accept responsibility for your parenting and the results.

What you said is very important. I somehow missed your post last night, and was about to write essentially what you did. So, to reinforce one of your points: government regulation of chemicals that have proven links to obesity is essential.

Diet and obesity are certainly connected, but it is important to look at all of the causes.

I grew up a fat kid and am now a fat adult, and the surprising thing to me is how few people know the real lifestyle habits which cause obesity. They are too busy making judgments and peddling assumptions.

When I was growing up, I almost never ate fast food. My family was too poor to have McDonald's or Burger King more than once a month (if that) as a sort of "treat". I was fat off of a diet full of day-old white bread, massive amounts of potatoes (which my mother prepared to fill us up so we didn't eat so much meat), and whole milk. My diet was high in canned vegetables and fruits, low in lean protein, and nearly devoid of whole grains.

I was poor as a kid and was tormented constantly by my peers before I was fat (for being poor and unsophisticated). When I started to gain weight and they tortured me for that, I stopped eating in front of anyone at school. My mother worked full-time at some crappy job because my father was a disabled alcoholic. She gave up on preparing my sister and I for school and let us get ourselves ready from about the age of 8. Since we caught the school bus at 7:00 am, we didn't even eat breakfast. A glass of whole milk was about the best we did. That meant I didn't eat all day until I got home from school because I didn't want to eat in front of my peers because I was embarrassed to be fat and be seen eating anything. I'd go home and eat and eat and eat because I was famished.

Unsurprisingly, I hated physical education. I didn't hate it because I was bad at it, but I hated it because my peers were sadistic about my poor performance and difficulties keeping up with them. Instead of learning to embrace exercise as a way of making my body stronger and improving self-esteem, I avoided it when I could. How can anyone learn to develop a good habit when it is paired with psychological torture and constant reminders of inadequacy and failure?

Between the food choices of poverty, a working mother who was too tired and stressed to nurture her kids as well as she might, an indifferent father, and probably screwing up my metabolism royally from not eating all day then gorging, I was set up in a body which was completely screwed up. I strongly believe that growing up as an obese kid is like being in a house with a poorly-built foundation. No matter how hard you try to rebuild the house on top of that foundation (and it's going to be harder to do so than to build on on a good foundation), it'll never be a good, strong one.

If people really want to help fat people in America, the first place to start is to stop judging them and making assumptions about their lives. Stop writing open letters to movie directors about fast food tie-ups and start trying to really understand the problem. Overweight people need compassion and support, not disgusted looks and smug attitudes. Part of what keeps fat people fat is the scrutiny of people who think they're pigs scarfing down fries all the time. Another part is that schools physical education programs are not designed to help them build good exercise habits, but rather focus on competition.

Most people who are overweight get worse because they gradually develop an addiction to food both psychologically and physically. Their response to blood sugar fluctuations is not dissimilar to that of a smoker to nicotine. The comfort they take in food is not dissimilar to that people take in alcohol. Food is the only pleasure they have in some cases, particularly when the world makes them hate their bodies and themselves by judging and mocking them. The addictive pattern is something which is set in childhood. It's nearly impossible to break as an adult because the psychology is deeply embedded and there is absolute fear associated with admitting the problem given that you know you're just going to be viewed as an object of disgust.

This piece from Salon only reinforces that idea. This doctor doesn't have a clue what causes childhood obesity beyond the basic notion that excess calories are being consumed. How can the problem be dealt with when there is no real insight into the causes?