I think the workplace concern is worth trying to improve. (Certainly, I've been in tech companies that encourage snacks consumption. Many people end up eating a lot more than they would otherwise, as they sit at their keyboards, with breaks that consist of walking to the snack room/cafeteria and back.)

But regarding a particular person, I suppose that friends and family members don't want to be reading random Internet commenters' speculation about that person's health and passing.

Maybe bring up the general problem in an HN post, with a link to an informative article?

There’s no way you can confidently infer a metabolic syndrome by sight. And a donut once a week isn’t going to induce metabolic syndrome.

You're not wrong that he wasn't physically fit, but he was also one of the most human people many of us in this thread have ever met.

Incredibly inappropriate. You have 0 clue about anything regarding his medical history. Next time you want to attribute cause of death for someone from an anecdote, do everyone a favor and shut the fuck up.

The late Patrick Henry Winston was well aware of his eating problems and wrote extensively about his very successful effort to reform them. He even stopped eating at his desk in an effort to lose weight. As part of his "General Patton Diet", he subsequently lost 60 lbs in 100 days.

Before: http://people.csail.mit.edu/phw/pensees/welcomethen.jpg

After: https://people.csail.mit.edu/phw/pensees/welcomenow.jpg

"I learned to eat and drink veeeeeery slowly at the table meant for eating, not in front of my computer screen. I used to cram in a day's worth of calories in a few minutes, before my body had any idea I was eating anything, which experts say takes 20 minutes."

https://people.csail.mit.edu/phw/index.html

His description of the "General Patton Diet" is no longer on his website but may be archived somewhere.

Here is a copy that I made when it appeared on his MIT webpages:

The General Patton diet

http://people.csail.mit.edu/phw/favorites.html

Fall 2012, first day of class, 255 lbs

Fall 2013, first day of class, 195 lbs

My doctor said I had three choices: take blood pressure medication, lose weight, or drop dead. My wife said I had turned into a fat blob. After thinking about all that for a couple of years, I decided to lose weight.

When I had tried to lose weight before, nothing worked. But I had never tried everything all at once. Many years ago, I watched “Patton,” and I think there was a scene in which he said with pride that he was attacking in all directions at once. So I decided to try what I call the General Patton diet, attacking in all directions at once.

First, I quit drinking cream in my coffee. I drink a lot of coffee, and I used to drink it with a lot of cream, so with that, I cut back 400-500 calories per day. Black coffee tasted terrible for a week, but I got used to it, and now the idea of cream in my coffee seems disgusting.

Then, I started exercising, almost daily—just fast walking and a little jogging at first, but then, around day 80, just jogging. Another 400-600 calories accounted for in my endorphin-generating exercise.

So, exercise and a change in the way I drink coffee constituted a 1000 calorie swing every day.

Then, I learned to eat and drink veeeeeery slowly at the table meant for eating, not in front of my computer screen. I used to cram in a day's worth of calories in a few minutes, before my body had any idea I was eating anything, which experts say takes 20 minutes.

Then, I substitute fruit for hypoglycemic foods that take blood sugar on a roller coaster ride. I used to get so hungry by 5 pm I could eat my own hand. Now I eat apples instead of junk and the 5 pm problem has gone away.

Then, the screwier things. Being interested in why we excel as a species, I note that fire is part of the explanation. Cooked food is partially digested before it goes in our mouth, so we can march more calories into our bodies in less time. That used to be a good thing, but isn't now, so I substitute raw fruits and vegetables for some of the cooked stuff I used to eat.

Then, I lift dumbbells while my coffee is brewing, which means I exercise at least five times a day, albeit briefly. It doesn't consume a lot of calories, but it seems to keep my appetite down and maybe keeps my metabolism up.

Then, I keep repeating to myself two quotes: from my friend Jay Keyser: “food is an addiction;” from Thomas Jefferson: “no man ever regretted eating too little.” Playing these quotes in my mind, I push away quite a lot of after-I-am-actually-satisfied food.

So I attack in all directions at once.

Of course what worked for one person doesn't work for another, and you really must talk to your doctor about whether what you are thinking of doing to lose weight is right for you.

Anyway, all this happened over the summer, so many of my friends had not seen me for a while, but strangely few asked me if I had lost weight. I finally figured out why when I broached the subject with a friend, Scott Vanderhoof, from whom I buy my hardware, who himself had once lost a lot of weight.

“Scott,” I said, “haven't you noticed that I have lost weight?”

“On purpose?”

“Yes, of course,” I said.

Then, with a great sigh of relief, he explained that he hadn't said anything because he thought I must have contracted something terrible to lose 60 pounds in 100 days.

25 September 2013 Epilog

Now, Registration Day, 2014, has rolled and my weight is the same as a year ago.

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