Several interesting posts about obesity. Megan doubts that there is any government policy could make Americans thinner. She refers to a new blogger, Sarah, who talks about how she was treated before she lost 100 pounds. Feministe writes about a shameful PETA campaign, which makes fun of fat women.

I appreciate these stories by the formerly and presently overweight. Treat everyone with kindness, people!

But I think that we can create conditions that help those who want to lose weight. I disagree with Megan. We can make people thinner, not by penalizing the bad behavior, but by reducing the costs for the good behavior. Some ideas: We could subside healthy fastfood restaurants in poorer neighborhoods. We could provide food vouchers for vegetables. Return cooking classes to high schools.