New York Health Board: We Need To Regulate Popcorn And Milkshakes Too
Over the last couple of weeks New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on large-sized sodas has caused a lot of controversy, but a health board appointed by the mayor wants to target more than just soda. They point out that there are a lot of other unhealthy foods out there too that need to be in the government’s cross hairs:
“The popcorn isn’t a whole lot better than the soda,” said Bruce Vladeck, a senior adviser at Nexera Consulting and one of the mayor’s appointees to the 11-member board.
The board yesterday agreed to put Bloomberg’s big-soda ban up for a public hearing July 24, but also talked about the merits of limiting other high-calorie treats.
A large tub of movie-theater popcorn has up to 1,650 calories.
“There are certainly milkshakes and milk-coffee beverages that have monstrous amounts of calories . . . and I’m not so sure what the rationale is not to include those,” said member Dr. Joel Forman, a pediatrics professor at Mount Sinai.
This is such a backward way of looking at the problem. The assumption is that Americans are fat because they have access to thinks like soda and popcorn and milkshakes. The reality is that popcorn and soda and milkshakes exist because Americans want them, and we consume them in quantities that make us fat.
You can’t make Americans skinnier by banning/restricting foods or drinks. Just as it’s the criminal, and not the gun, that commits crime, it’s not the soda that makes us fat but the decision to drink it.
Food restrictions will work about as well as a cure for obesity as gun control has worked as crime control. Which is to say, it won’t work at all.
Tags: michael bloomberg, milkshakes, nanny statism, popcorn
