Michael Judge's commentary about our nation's schizophrenic attitudes about alcohol was right on the mark ("Drinks All Around; It's Our 'Sacred Rite'," editorial page, March 27) .
Given that our society prefers simple "good" vs. "bad" dichotomies on most social issues, alcohol, no matter what the pattern of use, consistently gets the "bad" rap despite the overwhelming collection of medical data confirming that regular, moderate use of alcohol by those of middle age and older contributes to long life and good health.

It is with deep and profound sorrow that the American Council on Science and Health announces the death of its Director and Co-Founder, Dr. Fredrick J. Stare on April 4, 2002.
Born in 1910, Dr. Stare was one of the nation's foremost and leading nutritionists, who contributed much to the field of nutrition during his lifetime. Besides founding, and for many years chairing the Department of Nutrition in the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Stare was extremely active in providing sound, scientifically-based nutrition information for the public.

Who has time to eat breakfast anymore?

Hey, look! The secret to happy parenting has been known since the 1950s. Smoking may be very bad for Mom and Junior's lungs, but it can do wonders for alleviating stress in their relationship...
Responses:
April 5, 2002

In October of last year, all Americans got a crash course in bioterrorism. Anthrax-laced letters made postal workers, members of the media, and others sick. Seventeen people fell ill and five died.

The National Council Against Health Fraud, Inc. (NCAHF) has concluded that policies prescribed in the report issued March 25th by the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy (WHCCAMP) would lead to widespread adoption of unproven, disproven, and irrational methods and would cost the American public billions of dollars and thousands of human lives.
The 1910 Flexner Report set the standards for medical education. The WHCCAMP report does the exact opposite by outlining the agenda for establishing quackery.

Based on a Technical Paper by Clare Hasler, Ph.D.
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How fat do Americans have to get and how fast do they have to get that way before they are threatened with legal penalties for being immense?

Last week, an upstate New York judge ordered Johnita DeMatteo to stop smoking in her home and in her car if she wanted to maintain her visitation rights with her thirteen year-old son, who lives with his father.
The judge said he made the decision to protect the health of the child.
This case has generated enormous discussion about individual rights. And it has raised some very provocative issues, particularly when the basic facts behind the judge's decision are sorted out.

Recent news stories have cast doubt on the validity of a widely used index Body Mass Index, or BMI as an indicator of overweight, obesity, and associated health risks. It's really kind of fun to read some of these headlines and stories, like the ones that point out how members of leading college basketball teams would qualify as overweight if their BMIs were evaluated according to current government standards. So, if these active, fit, and presumably healthy young men would register as overweight on the Body Mass Index, the index must not be too accurate, right?