Mayor Bloomberg's Soda Ban and Obesity in America

Something that has been floating around the newssphere recently is Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York's proposal to cap serving sizes of sugary drinks sold at restaurants and vendors to 16 fl.oz. or the size of a Grande for those Starbucks minded like me. Quite a few people have come forward expressing their support as well as disdain for such a proposal. Those who are in support of Bloomberg herald the proposal as another positive step in the war against obesity in the United States while others are up in arms about their right to choose. One of my school newspapers recently published a poll on whether the same policy should be introduced in Washington D.C. (I'd image they mean in the city, not the actual nationwide government view of Washington D.C.). I was shocked to see that the majority of people polled supported the measure while others were a mixed bag of "no", "no opinion" and "THIS IS FASCISM IN DEMOCRACY" (emphasis added but not far off from the actual poll choice listed). Now each side has their fair share of points which make sense, but here's my view on this subject.

I find this proposal to be silly to say the least. One of the fundamental principles of business, American life and livelihood, and why the human brain has the ability to analyze differences between objects is choice. We as humans like choice; why else would there be over 30 different varieties of peanut butter at the grocery store or hundreds of different cars you could potentially buy? We don't like feeling constrained in our ability to do what we want by others or the rules established others who believe they know what you want better than you do. It's ridiculous.

I really like this kind of choice

Bloomberg stated that "'Every study shows that you will eat a very big proportion of whatever's put in front of you,' Bloomberg said in an interview Thursday with CBS News. 'And if you have to make a conscious effort to go to another cup, you're less likely to do it."' While that fact may be true, are people forced to purchase or actually finish that large portion of (insert food here)? No. This is where I feel that the blame for the general poor state of American health is being scapegoated to the American drinks industry. I see why this is happening; when you turn on the news and another story about how 2/3 of Americans are overweight and such is on, they often play the same stock footage of some Jabba the Hutt-esque individual sitting at a booth at McDonalds with their Big Mac and megajug sized soda in hand. To the viewer, the easy target to blame for that person's fatness are the two obvious forces of evil at work - fast food restaurants and Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Those greedy corporate bastards. I mean, what else would cause someone to balloon to that hearty girth? Well, look at the person inhaling all the food in front of them....

Omnomnomnomnom diabetes

 Here is the central point of my argument; it is not the soda, the burger, or the existence of large portion sizes that makes people fat, it's the fact that people choose to consume, against wiser judgement, extra calories more than they should, more often than they should. Is the fact that there is a Mega-Hyper-LordSaveMyBladder Gulp at my local 7-11 making me fat? No. Why? Because I make a conscious effort to try and live healthy, exercise, eat healthy, and choose a more reasonable size if the Siren's call for a Slurpee ever beckons me to the colourful, whirling goodness that is the slush machine. Same can be said of large portions at restaurants. If I go to The Cheesecake Factory, I expect massive portions that will leave me waddling out of the restaurant feeling more content than finding a $20 bill randomly on the floor (okay, maybe a $10). I can choose to eat it all, which on occasion I do, or eat until I'm full and take the rest home for lunch the next day. Now am I fat because The Cheesecake Factory has large portions and just inhaling the air suddenly adds 3 inches to my waist? No again, because I have a brain and I use it to make a choice as to when to stop eating and also to go be active in some way later on. Blaming restaurants for making people obese because they give consumers the option of large sizes just does make sense upon closer scrutiny.

Rather than restricting choice for consumers, politicians and companies should focus instead on educating them on what they are eating. Posting calorie counts on soda bottles and restaurant menus is something which I think is a great idea. Starting early on by educating children to eat healthy and stay active is another step in the right direction. Revising school lunches is another good idea. Looking back at what my high school cafeteria served, I can say that it wasn't exactly the best stuff in the world for me. Pizza, burgers, fries and the like aren't things that should be eaten every day, but I did because that's what was available. If I didn't do crew I probably would have put on a few pounds during high school, but I digress.

My best frenemy for the past four years

What we as consumers and as citizens should demand of our government isn't to find ways to make us healthier by restricting what we can and can not have to eat. Instead, we should demand that more transparency be put in place into what goes into our food and the nutritional information of what we eat. It's also the responsibility of us as consumers to be active buyers and be aware of the choices we have. Maybe instead of regular Coke get Diet Coke, if you don't like the taste of Diet Coke then get regular Coke, but know you're getting empty calories from that. Don't like that? Then go exercise to burn it off or switch to water. The same thing applies when deciding between a large or small drink. Don't go around blaming others that you're getting fat because you chose a less healthy option; nobody forced you to do anything. You control what you eat, and if  you're unhealthy because of it then do something about it or just a blissful, happy life just the way you are.

I believe that Bloomberg's  proposal was done with good intentions, but it really just does not work. What this proposal and any subsequent similar proposal does is treat the symptom rather than the cause which is what we should be going after.

Phew, that was a long post. If you made it this far, congratulations. Few topics usually get me impassioned about them but this is one of them. Given that, what's your opinion on Mayor Bloomberg's proposal? Do you agree? What do you think should be done about the obesity epidemic?

All the best,

JP

P.S. - if you would like to read more, here's the article I got the quote from. Otherwise, any news site is probably running some story on this so Google is your friend.

 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57445044/bloomberg-scoffs-at-critics-on-soft-drink-rules-were-not-taking-anything-away/