Slim Czechs

Not everyone liked our recent lighthearted look at the Czech bread-and-potato diet. One well-rounded reader threatened to sit on us. Numerous readers said an English-language publication shouldn't poke fun at Czech fatties, given the high number of weight- challenged individuals in the U.S. and U.K. It's true the Americans are in a league of their own. Where else do doctors need animal scales to weigh some patients? Americans are also the world leaders in tricking themselves into "eating better." Every college student knows, for example, that if you drink a Diet Coke and eat a Snickers at the same time, the Diet Coke wipes out the calories in the candy bar. Czechs aren't this sophisticated yet. Czechs might lag behind in trendy dieting, but, as one reader noted, Americans would have to stay on a diet for years to come to drop down to the level of the average Czech. Atkins