Government control over our eating habits? - Gorge yourself this holiday season while you can. If government is thinking about it, then it will be just a matter of time before legislation is passed that dictates how we eat. If someone told you 10-20 years ago that government would one day ban smoking in bars, would you have believed that person? "For the soaring number of Americans who are becoming dangerously overweight, states and cities across the country want to help. With the U.S. Surgeon General calling obesity an epidemic, legislators nationwide are offering measures to encourage healthy food choices and ban the worst temptations."
"Skeptics say government should stay away from trying to legislate something as personal as what we eat. But supporters say they can't ignore a growing public health problem or how it drives the ever-rising cost of health care."
Confirmation that unhealthy eating does impact others. Like second-hand smoke supposedly does.
"Few ideas have become law yet. But states have considered scores of bills this year that would, among other things: get kids exercising; warn restaurant eaters about fat, sugar and cholesterol on the menu; and, ban sugary sodas and fattening chips from school vending machines."
This is a campaign issue for Joe Lieberman.
Remember, the government thinks we are too stupid to know better.
"Under the laws that have passed, states will:"
"Ban junk food from vending machines in California. New York City, in an administrative decision, banned hard candy, doughnuts, soda and salty chips from its vending machines."
"Test the BMI — body-mass index, a ratio of height to weight — of students in six Arkansas schools, and send results home. Pediatricians say regular tests like this should be performed nationwide to track children at risk of becoming obese."
Test results sent home, child needs 'improvement,' next test, child shows no 'improvement,' punish the parents. There will probably be more of a crackdown on obesity in kids than in getting kids to perform better in math, English, and science.
"The statistics show the need for such efforts. The number of obese adults has doubled in 20 years, and is now up to nearly 59 million people, or almost a third of all American adults."
I wonder if the definition for obesity has been changed in the last 50 years to inflate the total number in order to get government involved?
People are speaking against government involvement.
" "There's a lot of fear and hysteria," said Mike Burita at the Center for Consumer Freedom, an advocacy group for the restaurant and food industry. "We're allowing government and these public health groups to dictate our food choices to us." "
"The skeptics are being heard. A Texas proposal to limit school children's access to snack and soda vending machines died after the state soft drink association complained. Most of the 80 or so obesity-related bills around the country also failed to pass."
Give them time. Once one bill passes, the floodgates will be open.
"The federal government is acting, too. It has started giving grants to cities to target unhealthy habits."
Good, freaking, hollandaise-filled-veins, grief. Yeah, there's no government waste in the budget.
If you support the smoking ban, then you must support government intrusion into our eating and activity habits, since it's all about the public's health, just like the smoking ban.
And just like the smoking ban, it's all about the kids too. "If we don't get a handle on this, this generation of kids coming up will have a shorter life span than their parents," said Nidia Henderson, wellness manager at West Virginia's Public Employees Insurance Agency. "That's scandalous."
posted by jr to health at 3:06 P.M. EST
(1 Comment)
Comments ...
Just thought of something.
"Ban junk food from vending machines in California. New York City, in an administrative decision, banned hard candy, doughnuts, soda and salty chips from its vending machines."
I say Toledo should do the same thing. Be a leader in Ohio. Opponents will be told that since it's being done in California and New York City, it's good for Toledo.
It seem like every smoking-ban supporter has to mention how the ban exists in California and NY City. So keeping with this tradition of following those places, Toledo should ban junk food in all vending machines. In fact, Toledo should be a real leader and ban the sale of junk food everywhere.
Come on Mayor Ford and Toledo City Council. Make us healthy. I'm imagining the hypocrisy here. City Council slaps themselves on the back for believing they did something good by banning smoking in public places. Then they walk to the nearest vending machine to buy a soda and a package of powdered sugar doughnuts.
posted by jr at 03:31 P.M. EST on Wed Dec 24, 2003 #
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