I went on my first diet when I was eleven. In my house, you cleaned your plate (a plate filled by my mother which always included a huge serving of mashed potatoes and gravy and white bread and butter) or sat there until you did. In their defence - they grew up during the depression and learned the inportance of food.

My younger brother was the black sheep of the family. His road to perdition started with a refusal to eat more than he needed to stay alive. He remains thin today as do his children.

Once I got to high school, I controlled my own portions and managed to stay thin through college. Once I started working and sitting at a desk and entertaining customers on an unlimited expense account, my weight climbed.

Mt metabolism is all screwed up. I eat to handle stress - another habit learned in childhood. But ultimately, though genes and habit play into it, I am fat because I choose to be. I alone decide what goes in.

It saddens me to see very young children of eight and nine who are grossly overweight. Computers, hand held games, and fast food are at the root of the problem. They are teased by their classmates, will be shunned in the work place and be lucky if they are hired at all. Unless of course the entire work force is overweight.

Be interesting to see if the change in the general population will generate a new body ideal - Rubenesque models with hips and breasts and tummies. Probably not. More likely, gastic by-pass will be as common as acne.