In typical governmental fashion, the State of Mississippi is seeking to fix a legitimate problem using twisted logic. They have decided one way to reduce the cost of medical bills that the state is responsible for is to penalize obese people by making it illegal to serve them in restaurants. Maybe their hearts are in the right place. They recognize that obesity makes people sicker and are attempting to discourage it. However, I could not think of an odder and less effective way to combat the problem if I tried!
One Mississippi resident that was interviewed in the article below hit the nail right on the head, intimating that people must desire to lose weight, not be legislated into it. Not to mention the ridiculous notion of turning restaurant owners into part of the government bureaucracy and expecting them to screen their patrons for obesity. Maybe a saner idea would be to offer overweight individuals an incentive to lose those extra pounds by providing resources for them to learn about healthier lifestyle choices and possibly hitting them with a Medicaid surcharge if they do not slim down. Or maybe food stamp entitlements could be restricted by disallowing the purchase of certain junky and high-fat foods. (But then that would eliminate a good portion of the items in most grocery stores, would it not?).
Perhaps this is only a publicity stunt designed to draw attention to the financial and health needs that are challenging Mississippi. However, it is a great object lesson to all of us that a lifestyle of wellness begins at home. We as parents must model and teach quality choices to our children so that the Standard American Diet can be rewritten to establish more healthful cultural norms. The government never can and never will accomplish such purposes.
February 3, 2008
Some say obese bill has fat chance
Natalie Chandler
natalie.chandler@clarionledger.com
A bill that would force some Mississippians to back away from the buffet, or any restaurant, has begun its trip through the 2008 Legislature.House Bill 282 would prohibit restaurants from serving food to anyone who is obese, based on criteria from the state Department of Health.
Restaurateurs and an advocacy group say the legislation is a waste of time, and even one of the lawmakers pushing it doesn't expect it to travel very far.
State Rep. Ted Mayhall, R-Southaven, said he's simply hoping to "call attention to the problem."
"No one's doing anything about it," Mayhall said, referring to obesity. "They just keep on going to the buffets and eating.
"Obesity makes people more susceptible to diabetes, which puts a further strain on the state's financially-challenged Medicaid program, he said.
A 2007 report put that state's obesity rate at 30.6 percent - the worst in the nation.Mayhall said the bill has been referred to a House subcommittee. If it advances, it would be discussed in the House Public Health and Human Services Committee.
Dr. Ed Thompson, state health officer, has previously said Mississippi's obesity rate cost Medicaid alone $221 million each year.
On Saturday, Thompson said the Department of Health is monitoring the bill as it does all proposed legislation that could affect public health policies. However, Thompson said the department has "no position on the bill."
"The bill was not discussed with us but we will work with the sponsors to see if we can answer any questions along the way," he said.
The legislation would require the Department of Health to "prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese and to provide those materials to the food establishments.
"The department would be responsible for making sure restaurants follow the law, which would go into effect July 1. Permits could be revoked for failing to comply.
"I've seen a lot of crazy laws, but this one takes the cake. Literally," said J. Justin Wilson, a senior research analyst for the Center for Consumer Freedom. "Whether it is menu labeling laws, taxes on fattening foods, or Mississippi's new "you're too fat to eat here" proposal, the food police have gone too far.
"Mississippi also ranks "dead last" in the country for physical activity, Wilson said.
"Maybe the state's Legislature should do something to help people burn more calories instead of pretending that eating out is a cardinal sin," he said.
McDonald's restaurant owner Mike Rutzer of Greenville agreed.
"It just staggers the imagination to think what our government will come up with next," he said. "It's discriminatory. Now we're picking and choosing who to serve?"
Jackson restaurateur LeRoy Walker said lawmakers should focus on "health care, education, overall economic reform for our state. People on the Coast are still impacted from Hurricane Katrina."
"I think the individual who may have some challenges with their weight needs to govern themselves accordingly with the choices they put on their plates," he added.
DeShawn Walker, who was eating an early dinner with his mother Saturday evening at Big Mama's Country Cooking Buffet in south Jackson, said the bill equals discrimination.
"It's wrong," he said. "And I think it would make restaurants lose money, too."
Walker's mother, Patricia, shook her head at the bill's premise.
"You can't tell nobody how to eat. People have got to decide for themselves to lose weight," she said. "But, you know, some people are big and happy."
David Simmons of Ridgeland had similar feelings toward the proposed legislation.
"(Obesity) is a problem, I know. But it shouldn't be the government's role to dictate what people are eating, just like government shouldn't dictate smoking or drinking," he said.
Mayhall acknowledges the bill is "bad legislation" and that it "won't go anywhere."
But he said, "The intent was to get it in committee and call attention to the problem.
"http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/NEWS/802030374
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