DR. WALLACE: I was 16 and obese. I hated the way I looked, but I was a compulsive eater. It was nothing for me to "snack" on a whole pie. You encouraged me to attend an Overeaters Anonymous meeting. I did, and it was one of my best moves. In the past six months, I have lost 27 pounds and feel very proud of myself. I would like to give the following test to overweight teens:

If you say "yes" to two or more of the questions, you could be a compulsive overeater:

1. Do you eat as a response to all kinds of feelings — highs, lows and in-betweens?

2. Does your overeating make you miserable?

3. Do your eating habits interfere with your social life, or does your social life revolve around food?

4. Do you eat normally in front of others and binge when you're alone?

5. Do you drift off in class because you're thinking about food or losing weight?

6. Do you hate gym and other activities because of your weight?

7. Do you spend more time than you would like thinking about and eating junk food?

8. Do you sometimes steal food or the money to buy it?

9. Do you pass up dances and other affairs because you can't fit into nice clothes?

10. Do you resent people's comments and "helpful suggestions" about the amount of food you eat?

Please look in the white pages of your telephone book to find an OA group in your area. You'll be glad you did! — Valerie, Charlotte, N.C.

VALERIE: Thanks for sharing this useful information. I have received many comments of recommendation about this wonderful not-for-profit organization.

BEWARE OF TRAINS!

I lost my grandson to a horrible accident. He was only 20 years old and had his whole life in front of him.

He and his best friend were hit by a train, and both were killed instantly. They had been walking on the tracks and had gotten out of the way of the southbound train, but they apparently didn't hear a train that was northbound.

My grandson had been walking on the tracks for over ten years. I had told him many times not to walk on the tracks, but he continued to walk them because it was a shortcut to where he was going. I raised this boy since he was three, so it was like losing my own son. One day he was an active 20-year-old, and in a second he was gone.

Dr. Wallace, please tell young people to never, ever, walk the train tracks. I never in my wildest dreams thought my grandson and his friend would be hit by a train. I know that children and teens enjoy being around trains, but the unexpected can and does happen. The grief I am suffering is almost unbearable, and questions regarding his death will never be answered. — Grandmother, Tacoma, Wash.

GRANDMOTHER: It's amazing how railroads and trains act as magnets to draw young people. As a young boy growing up in Gary, Indiana, I, too, "walked" the railroad tracks.

Fatal train accidents usually happen when the victim feels safe after a train passes, but is not aware of a train travelling in the opposite direction. Railroad tracks are not intended to be walkways for humans. Everyone should be extra careful when walking near trains and never, ever risk going through flashing red lights or around lowered gates when driving near them! You always lose when colliding with a train!

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at rwallace@galesburg.net. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.