vegetables. It is easy to forget to count the calories in the
extra pat of butter or spoonful of salad dressing. We shall
soon see how candy or ice cream eaten between meals
adds to the calories in the diet for a day.
The people who have grown used to large quantities of
food can learn to eat more vegetables, which are low in
calories, for part of their meals. In this way they can
lower the number of calories without feeling hungry.
An experiment made with some chickens showed a
third reason for overeating. The chickens were allowed
to eat as much as they wanted. Then some hungry
chickens were turned into the same pen. As soon as the
hungry chickens began to eat, the first ones began to eat
again. The same thing happens to people. When you see
someone with an apple or a candy bar, your digestive
juices begin to flow and you want something to eat. If
one person has a second helping at the table, notice how
many others follow his example.
Eating may be a way of putting off doing things you
do not want to do. For example, Shirley wants to play
after school, but she has to do homework. Even though
she usually waits to eat until mealtime, she may feel
hungry and go to the kitchen for something to eat. In
this way she puts off for ten or fifteen minutes the study-
ing she should do. Sometimes persons overeat because
they are unhappy.
Are reducing medicine and dieting ever dangerous?
In newspapers and magazines you will find a variety of
cures for obesity* Many of the get-thin-quick medicines
have contained thyroid extract, made from the thyroid
glands of animals. This use of thyroid extract may be
extremely dangerous. Thyroid should not be given even
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