I READ with puzzlement the letters from J Morgan and Phillip Atkinson (I'll die at 60, The Press, January 3).

Mr Morgan and Phillip Atkinson do not mention the daily operations of smokers who have veins taken from their legs to be re-implanted to take the place of clogged-up ones. There is no mention of not treating the effects of alcoholism or drug taking or even the avid jogger who suffers stress fractures. This list could go on and on.

On thinking about the reasons for always belittling the overweight, I believe it's because it's a visual thing. It is something that cannot be hidden. Something you carry with you 24/7. It's as if people who are overweight are substandard or of low intelligence because they "let themselves go".

As you will have guessed by now, I am overweight, but class myself as quite logical and fairly intelligent. I have been to enough slimming clubs (and still attend one) to know what it is all about. So stop treating the overweight as if it's just a case of putting less in your mouth and realise if that's all it was, we would all be sylph-like.

As you know if you are a smoker, you can stop putting cigarettes in your mouth (we all know it's not that easy) or a drinker you can stop putting alcohol in your mouth. As with drug-taking; you can stop injecting into your veins, and a jogger can stop pounding the pavements; but if you are overweight, you cannot and should not stop eating.

Molly Abbott, Glenridding, Woodthorpe, York.