The simplest workaround is to check Word Tools|Options|General|"Confirm
conversion at open", then go through the process of connecting to your data
source again and select the DDE option when it is eventually offered. Your
sheet will need to be the first in the workbook or the one previously opened
in Excel.

In essence, the problem results from the fact that the Jet OLEDB provider
that Word 2003 uses by default to get data from Excel tries to determine a
data type for each coloumn, looking at the first 25 rows in the column. If
the column has more than one data type, the provider is likely to use the
"majority" type - if it decides that's "numeric", text values will be set to
0.

Peter Jamieson