I missed the news again but I read something this morning that really bothered me. Apparently New York City's Mayor Bloomberg and his staff are now some kind of nutritional experts. Beyond that, they are really stepping on your right to choose what you want.
The brilliant minds in the city have decided that they have solved all the rest of the problems that they face (here is the original story). Their reasoning behind this move is the claim that obesity related illness costs the city $4 billion per year. I can think of other things that they should probably be looking at to reduce their costs where the measurement can be done with real numbers rather than based on best guess scenarios such as this one. The problem I have with the statement regarding the cost is that there is no way in which to prove that these people considered to have obesity related illness wouldn't be in the same situation that they are in. It isn't like you can travel in a time machine and make sure that they stay physically fit to see the results. Granted, it is possible that if they did remain physically fit they may not have all of the issues but there is no proof of that. They are trying to put all of the blame on the beverages but the real blame needs to go on the individual. Each person is responsible for their own actions and choices. Taking away all beverages that are larger than 16oz isn't going to help in a world where there are free refills at most restaurants. And it won't make a bit of difference in the grocery stores or the convenience store as they are exempt. So what I see happening is that people will continue to go to Burger King to order their double Whopper with cheese, bacon, and extra mayo. But instead of ordering that King size combo, they will just order the large fries and go to the convenience store across the street to get their over sized beverage. Nothing is solved with this law! If he really wants to save some money, how about putting some effort into getting these people off public assistance and in the work place where they can get health insurance of their own.
But let's look at the rest of the picture. If this law is passed and upheld in a court of law, what is to prevent them from passing a law that tells you that you can't have more than a 4oz portion of meat? Since that is where most of the cholesterol issues come from. Or that you can only have red meat 3 times a week since that is higher in fat and cholesterol than other sources of protein. At what point will it end?
I get that there is a problem in the United States regarding weight. I've been battling it since I graduated high school. But telling people what portion sizes they can and can't have isn't something that the government should be doing. Maybe they should start looking at the real issue. How about not glamorizing the "athletes" that are well over 300 pounds? That is where just about everything starts, the folks that young kids idolize have the real influence. Perhaps they should prevent stars from promoting the high fat and calorie items from the chain restaurants. Eliminating the 200 calories that someone is going to get in a beverage isn't going to help since the entree they are eating still contains over 95% of the calories in the meal. In case you missed it, I talked about what I think the problem really is a few days ago here.
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