LETTERS: Regardless of weight, acceptance is right

Regardless of weight, acceptance is right

I am writing in response to the recent letter writer who finds it "frightening" that our culture has "accepted" being overweight .

I should like to remind him that fat people are not just statistics appearing in studies of American obesity rates, but are our wives, husbands, friends, and other loved ones, and - if they are decent and honorable - fully merit both acceptance and respect, regardless of the size of their bodies.

Healthy dietary options in supermarkets and restaurants should be readily available to citizens both young and old, and children encouraged, by parents and schools, to be more physically active. But I submit that those adults who are overweight or obese and remain so, by choice or otherwise, must be "accepted." The alternative to such acceptance is something that I find frightening.

John Nofer

Port Washington

Paterson on Paladino:

Now this is rich

Let me get this straight; our current lame-duck governor thinks that the Republican candidate Carl Paladino is "unfit" to serve New York ["Guv says Paladino unfit to serve," News, Sept. 17]?

Well, what qualifies a person to be fit to serve? Running around with prostitutes (former Gov. Eliot Spitzer)? Accepting consulting fees from businesses doing business with the state (former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno)? Requesting and belatedly paying for World Series tickets at Yankee Stadium (Gov. David A. Paterson)?

Under Paterson's so-called qualified leadership, and that of the rest of those "fit" to serve in Albany, the state has hit rock bottom.

Stephen Vella

Ronkonkoma

Corn syrup's name change not so sweet

I was dismayed by the article concerning the proposed renaming of high-fructose corn syrup to corn sugar "New name for corn syrup?," News, Sept. 15].

High-fructose corn syrup is a processed sugar substitute that has replaced table sugar as a result of the federal government's subsidizing of American corn, and the import tariffs placed on table sugar from foreign sources. To people like me who are unusually sensitive to the artificial ingredients in processed food, it can interfere with normal metabolism and cause health problems.

The corn growers of America are acting to protect their economic interests while the Food and Drug Administration, as it has for decades, does little to serve the interests of the public.

Jody Marcus

Coram