Hi, Ardith Hinton!
I read your message from 12.11.2019 00:40

 AH>> Now that you mention it, I think the boy might well have been
 AH>> using railroad explosives. The author describes him as "gray"...
 AH>> perhaps suggesting he hadn't bathed for awhile, and "scrawny"...
 AH>> perhaps suggesting he didn't get enough to eat.
 AK>> Do you think that scrawny children have nothing to eat?

 AH> Not necessarily... but many others seem to think so. If the boy was
 AH> between the ages of six & sixteen it's possible he was at a stage
 AH> of growth in which he was becoming taller very quickly & the rest
 AH> of his body hadn't caught up yet. It's also possible that, like one
 AH> of my cousins, he had inherited the ectomorph body type from his
 AH> father & grandfather. In my experience those who rely heavily (!)
 AH> on cheap carbohydrates are more likely to be overweight.: - Q

‘hildren very often have a poor appetite. Their mothers often make them eat
their food. The epidemic of excess weight is most likely connected with genetic
changes that happen during many years and even generations. I believe this
change has been caused by the fact that very many people live in stress, and
food is a very effective antidepressant. And people who refused to smoke now
have a little choice in replacing it with something else. :)

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2019

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