15 DECEMBER 1967, Page 27

Reflections on middle age

Sir: There is one important omission in John Rowan,Wilson's fascinating article in last week's SPECTATCR (8 December): the middle-aged spread and the obsession with dieting that accompanies it.

I suppose the middle-aged spread is not very attractive but is it worth all the fuss and worry about endless diets, or more usually non-diets, in order to lose a few pounds, invariably in the wrong place?

The need to talk about this at all times, par- ticularly during meals, comes no doubt under the heading of exteriorisation but perhaps it would be kinder to call it a neurotic obsession or obsessive neurosis: it would be easier' to forgive.

Dorothea Cheiwynd Polesdon House, Stype, Near Hungerford, Berks.