"Helping Patients with Weight Loss" (July, http://bit.ly/p8SMqK) is an excellent guide to the basics of weight loss and key behavior modifications. However, I was disappointed to find only one short paragraph on the emotional aspects of eating.

Many in our culture have developed a strong emotional attachment to food as a way to comfort themselves. This act of self-medicating brings temporary relief from anxiety and stressful situations but leads to eating too much-and, often, to eating too much high-calorie food.

I'd love to see a follow-up article that focuses on managing stress and negative emotions using techniques such as meditation and relaxation, exercise, yoga, and counseling. Combined with the useful tips in this AJN article, such information could help to combat a national health problem.

Carol Blanchard, RN

Boston