Weight is a PRIVATE matter. No one has the right to look at another and judge them for their looks. We've come to expect this and it's accepted behavior. It shouldn't be. You can't shame people into losing weight and it's wrong that we try.

Juliet, Bailey, USA

We're not talking about 10 pounds. We're talking about 50. I'm too fat. It's because I eat too much and don't take enough exercise. I have no real excuse for this, so stop trying to provide one for me- or anybody else - who could do better.

Dr Roddy Campbell, Christchurch, New Zealand

Quote;
"For example, genetically identical twins, separated at birth and raised separately, remain not only extremely similar in facial appearance in adult life but also in weight."

How many example of "genetically identical twins, separated at birth and raised separately" exist.

Luka Tunjic, London, UK

Look at old photos and films of crowd scenes. Where are the fat people? There are a few but not nearly as many as today. Our genes cannot have changed that much in one or two generations. Our way of life and our diets have though.

Mike Sedgwick, Eastleigh, UK

Some people may well be born "hungrier" than others. But the simple fact is that if you eat too much and don't get enough exercise, you get fat. We are all born with different weaknesses and propensities, but that does not mean we can abdicate responsibility for ourselves.

Martin, Newmarket, Suffolk

If the fact that we are not all dealt the same hand by nature becomes incorporated into accepted wisdom, society will have to deal with its influence on our attitudes to dealing with problems in addition to obesity- particularly criminality, other antisocial traits and drug & alcohol addiction.

Frank Sherwood, Chester, UK