All right. NYC’s health board approved the ban of selling 16 oz or larger sodas or sugary drinks. They are also considering including large tubs of popcorn, juice, and other items. H

Other cities are considering a similar ban, too. The Cambridge Mayor had this to say: “As much free will as you can have in a society is a good idea . . . But with a public health issue, you look at those things that are dangerous for people, that need government regulation,” Mayor Henrietta Davis told the press. “When people are served these gigantic portions of soda in bottomless cups, sometimes it’s just more than people are able to resist.”

From the CBS news article:

Soda in large amounts is metabolically toxic,” said Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. “It’s obvious that this is the right thing to do.”

Obesity’s a problem, they say. We all know that. It’s a national problem.

“Obesity has led to 5,800 deaths a year in New York City and costs taxpayers $4 billion, according to statements presented at the meeting,” according to the CBS article dated June 13, 2012.

Oh my gosh. Thank GOD they banned that evil stuff. Every time I go by a 7-Eleven, I have to go in and buy a Super Big Gulp. Thank God they’ve removed that temptation for me and I won’t get fat.

Oh wait. It doesn’t apply to 7-ELEVEN.

The NYT reports:

Only establishments that receive inspection grades from the health department, including movie theaters and stadium concession stands, will be subject to the rules. Convenience stores, including 7-Eleven and its king-size Big Gulp drinks, would be exempt, along with vending machines and some newsstands.

Oh.

Well, then, did they get rid of PopTarts, ice cream, chocolate, cookies, chips, freshly baked French bread, fish tacos? Because sometimes people eat too many of those, too. You know Lays potato chips– you can’t just eat one. Most of the Starbucks menu will make you fat. These are all trigger-foods for some people, and we really ought to protect people from themselves.

Nope. Just soda.

Juice?

Nope.

How about fatty red meat or boxed wine? People have too much of those items all the time, and it can cause problems, too.

Unrestricted access.

High-fructose corn syrup?

Surely that should have been banned first. Some people think that’s the root cause of our obesity problem (along with, you know, lack of self control, too much TV, a palate that is used to over-processed foods, and on and on).

Check out what high fructose corn syrup (which is found in items from salad dressings to cookies to juice) does:

Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn’t true, at least under the conditions of our tests,” said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. “When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they’re becoming obese — every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don’t see this; they don’t all gain extra weight.”
-From
A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain

Well, I’m glad they banned that. It sounds like it causes a terrible chemical reaction…no? You can still buy products in NYC containing high fructose corn syrup?

Okay, you get the point of what I’m saying. There’s no point. There’s only another government-imposed half-assed law that does nothing to address actual issues.

Listen, it wouldn’t affect me one bit if soda was banned from this earth. It takes me like 5 hours to drink one small soda, let alone a huge one; I’m not much of a soda fan. I think it’s bad for your teeth and I know people (in current, modern day times), who have lost all their teeth because of soda.

Pretty much anything is bad for you IF YOU EAT TOO MUCH OF IT. If you eat too many carrots, you turn orange. If you eat only iceberg lettuce, you’ll die of malnutrition.

The problem with banning something that SOME people refuse to moderate for themselves is it becomes acceptable to ban other things that other people don’t like. So perhaps the next mayor in power, or another city, will decide that high heels are crippling. They prevent a good workout while walking and provide absolutely no benefit. If worn everyday, they warp your tendons. High heel ban: coming to a city near you. For your own damn good.

Television is REALLY REALLY REALLY bad for you. Too much sitting! It’s making our kids fat, and they turn CANNOT resist. How can we, as parents, possibly risk being yelled at by our precious special children? Let the government handle it for you and get rid of the idiot boxes, or, better yet, provide us with pre-approved government-sponsored programming, so we only watch what they want us to watch.

While we’re at it, let’s address the problem of bad parents. Some people aren’t good, and some are too poor and shouldn’t be having all those kids. The government will form a committee and decide who’s fit to be parents (based on projected income, muscle tone, and genetics) and the government will sterilize all the rest.

Good behavior cannot be regulated unless the government acquires complete control over the autonomy of individuals. You can’t have it both ways.

Can we force people to be moderate? No. Do we have to cover their health costs if they choose to be immoderate? Well, we cover other stuff that could possibly be prevented. Liver transplants for alcoholics. Cavities for people who eat sugar. Broken-arm casts for people who drunkenly jump off roof tops. When you go to the doctor, they do not have a list of criteria whereby they deny some things because you were dumb, and cover other things that weren’t your fault.

So, should we be super cold-hearted and say, “Listen, if you get fat and sick, we are just going to let you die, because you were too stupid to be fit”?

Or, should we figure out the underlying problem and fix that? (Corn syrup?) What will make the biggest dent in the obesity death chart seen below?

I’ve got no problem with banning things like smoking; smoking directly and immediately affects other people in bad ways AND causes a lot of extra health care expenses. But some things only immediately affect yourself. Somebody else drinking a large soda does not make me have an asthma attack or make me have cancer down the road.

All I know is I’m awfully cautious when it comes to giving other people the power to tell me what to do with my body in the name of what’s good for me. I think it leads to no good. Bloomberg also wants to change NYC’s hospital protocol involving formula and breast feeding (the formula companies do give you a LOT of free swag in the hospital, though I’m not sure this pressure is the right answer, because I have never known a mother who says, “Oh, I got free stuff so I chose not to breastfeed!” Rather, they couldn’t breastfeed for some reason).

Shouldn’t you be a bit concerned, too?

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