The New York Times of February 26th reports a drop of 43% in the obesity rate of children between two and five in America, a surprise to everyone. A third of adults and 17% of youths are obese, and the rate for women over 60 has increased, but at least this news is good news. On the other hand no one agrees the reason for it, except for the fact that the Federal program that subsidizes food for the poorest families has reduced funding for fruit juices, cheese and eggs and has increased it for fruits and vegetables, which illustrates that government intervention and healthy incentives can have positive effects.

Christian propagandists back in the early days pictured Epicureans as self-indulgent gluttons. So effective was this lie that the contractor that runs the refectory at our local university is called “Epicurean & Co”. I try to ignore the silly name, although it illustrates an on-going ignorance. In fact, Epicureans through the ages have been educated, enlightened and have instinctively understood the importance of healthy diet and exercise, especially from a very early age. We should be encouraged by the “obesity news”.