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• Thursday, June 7, 2007 09:23 AM

  Oh. My. God.

  I can't even believe the level of vitriol this article has inspired. Say what you will about Dickerson's writing style, but she is absolutely right--there is a huge problem with weight in this country, and black women are among the groups suffering the most. I don't see how it's racist (or sexist, for that matter) to want people to be healthy. Quite the opposite.

  I'm astonished at the statement that diets don't work. If you're talking about cutting way back on your calories and starving yourself, or doing some fad Atkins-type thing, then yes, I'll agree with you. But making lifestyle changes and sticking to them absolutely DOES work.

  I went from 184 to 150, and a size 14 to an 8 (I'm 5'7), and I've kept it off for four years now. How? Well, for one thing, I no longer eat a 1000-calorie, 50-grams-of-fat burrito for lunch. I cut it in half or I get something else. I also exercise every day, which seems to be a foreign concept to many Americans. Clearly, at 150, I'm no stick figure. I've still got curves, but I've also got muscle, and good blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar to boot.

  And I don't think I'm the exception; plenty of people I know have lost weight and kept it off. To say diets don't work implies that there's no hope for anyone who's overweight. I'm not saying it's easy, but what could be more important than caring enough about yourself to get healthy?

  We Americans are facing a public health crisis that is almost entirely avoidable, and if we don't do something soon then many generations are going to suffer.

  —Anonymous
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