I try to scan the field of blogs routinely, to connect with others who are writing about it, and I came across this one this morning at the very simpatico childhoodobesitynews.com.

I'm delighted for the mention, but especially to land in the same paragraph as Frank Bruni, the New York Timesman who wrote "Born Round," which I admired on several counts. And yes, I do think our books are comparable, but then I'm the author, so who you gonna believe?

It's a good opportunity, meanwhile, to mention "Overweight, What Kids Say," a compilation of comments that heavy kids have left over a number of years on the website Weigh2Rock.com, in which they describe their experiences, emotions, successes, and failures about body weight. It was put out by Dr. Robert Pretlow, a Seattle-area pediatrician who is also the force behind childhoodobesitynews.com. (The very able Pat Hartman writes the blog.)

What I like about the book is that it has comments from kids themselves, and especially in the volume represented here — 134,000 messages. It's not a random sampling, but if this is the work of some mystery cabal seeking to perpetrate a hoax on America instead of a candid, cumulative representation of what it's like to grow up fat, I'm very impressed with their industry.

One of Dr. Pretlow's conclusions, btw, is that food addiction is real. And remember, he's a  d-o-c-t-o-r.