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• Friday, June 8, 2007 03:16 PM

  Hooray OtherLisa

  I really don't get the vitriol directed at this article and its author. If I gather Dickerson's point correctly, she is merely pointing out that replacing one unhealthy beauty standard (anorexically thin) with another (unhealthily fat) is not advancement.

  In making this point, she deliberately makes a distinction between merely healthy yet full-figured and obese. Jordin Sparks, the daughter of an NFL pro, is full-figured. Lakisha Jones is obese. Did other people miss that part?

  There is a difference between healthy acceptance of your body type and a deluded contentment to remain unhealthy. As otherlisa pointed out, the problem with Buffie the Body is that in order to attain and maintain her current body type, she eats junk food and eschews exercise.

  The letter-writer "loula" says she has a secret: that most people are not lazy slobs fat because of their own lack of motivation. Loula, you need a new little birdie because many studies on the eating habits show that too many Americans eat too much and do not exercise enough. According to Epocrates, medical technology company, only 13% of physicicans believed that genetics was significant reason their patients were overweight. Physicians surveyed believed portion control and nutrition were more common reasons for obesity.

  One small correction: Ruben Studdard may have lost 100lbs at one point, but he put that back on. He is now as heavy as ever.

  —october271986 Read october271986's other letters
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