Trimming the Fat

By Kellie Rowden-Racette

On a sunny, sultry day in early June, 16-year-old Stephany Tyler relaxes at the outdoor courtyard of the Georgetown Square shopping center. Walter Johnson High School, which caters to Maryland’s upscale Bethesda and Chevy Chase neighborhoods, looms a quarter-mile away. At 10:45 a.m., Stephany and her friends are enjoying the student perk of being able to leave campus for lunch. A bottle-blond girl of average build, she’s opted for her favorite standby—a bagel with cream cheese.

"I always come here and get the same thing," she says. "I only eat once a day, and this is it. Hey, it works—I lost 15 pounds this way!"

Stephany prefers the shopping center’s restaurants to the school’s cafeteria. "It’s too busy and uncomfortable at the cafeteria," she explains. "Plus," her friend, another girl with a blond dye job, chimes in, "[the food] is...