New York OKs nation's first ban on super-sized sugary drinks

Against. WTF.


It's interesting to me that Bloomberg seemingly has no problem hosting an annual hot dog eating competition and letting his city profit from that celebration of gluttony.

I am opposed to anything that limits choices. Improper use of government. Dangerous precedent. Worried about where they will go next. Government can get get drunk with power.

I'm against the government having any say in any of my personal decisions. If I want to drink a 40 oz Sprite while scarfing down cheeseburgers at McDonalds then that's MY business. If they want to impose restrictions, they should be doing it to corporations/manufacturers that provide the unhealthy products to consumers. Let the FDA ban the use of high fructose corn syrup and dangerous chemicals in the plastic bottles that hold soda before they start telling consumers what they should and shouldn't purchase.

I was just going to create a post about this!.... But I think it's a great idea. Sure we can leave people to their own devices and let them decide, but that's why we're all here- many of us didn't make the right decisions before we started being more conscious about our health. And for those of you that think it's totally atrocious, look back at when they banned smoking in NYC... Now look at the rest of the country. Sure, it's someone's decision to smoke, but they can do it on their own time, in their own house. Same with the huge sugary drinks..... You many think "Sure, but drinking a sugary drink doesn't affect anyone but the person who consumes it...." Think about it this way then- The parent that takes their family to McDonalds or Burger King and get bags upon bags of disgusting hamburgers and fries to feed their entire family, topped off by 5 giant sized sodas. At least that kid with the irresponsible parent won't be exposed to the sugar in a huge cup of soda. Small victory- but victory none-the-less. And believe me, in my high school days working in fast food I saw situations such as the one I described above many, MANY times in one day.

Plus, if someone's really that p!ssed off, they can just go to the grocery store and buy a 2-liter and drown themselves in that. OR, and I know this idea will blow many people's minds- they can just buy TWO 16 oz. drinks at the same time. WOAH, I know, rocket science, people.

I see it as social responsibility at it's finest.

They should just have MFP's submit button on the register and print out on the receipt: "If you drank this everyday in addition to your normal meals, you'd gain 48 lbs a year."

Just kidding.

But if they want to do anything, go with the labeling, and have it specify how much of the daily intake it's estimated to be, in bigger letters. 25% of your daily intake on a 2000 calorie diet may make someone pause. I know it does for me--I rarely eat a microwave meal I love because it's almost half my daily calories if I stick to my calorie limit.

I am against the ban..but hey,I like that idea about how many lbs you'd gain in a year..lol. Would make me think twice, that' s for sure.

I got overweight before but it wasn't because i was ignorant. I KNEW I shouldn't be drinking all that pop. I KNEW I shouldn't eat 3 slices of cake. But I did it anyways.

People who say they don't know are lying to themselves. Government should get back to trying to fix schools and getting people jobs.

Sounds like something in the communist world. Ohh well

I'm 10000% against this. If people want to make unhealthy choices, let them. As an alteration of a saying goes: First they came for the 32oz big gulps, but I did not speak up.....Whats next? A ban on bacon because it's too salty? A ban on burgers because someone could throw fattening toppings on it? I got fat without the government, let me get skinny without it.

Did you seriously just quote a holocaust poem in reference to soda?:noway:

I was reading through these posts thinking through the issue because really I never have taken it upon myself to think critically about people's soda intake before. Well, occasionally I have thought that my husband must be hurting himself by drinking more soda than the recommended daily intake for a person of water but beyond that, not much really.

I thought well I think more than 16 oz of soda is overkill. And I also know that I have drank more than that largely because it was available. I haven't ever been like, "I need a big gulp stat" but I have been like, "oh, that's my 3rd refill" at a restaurant. Now I just reach for water unless it's a small limited can or something.

But it took me 30 years to understand that and a lot of our kids in America are getting huge. Not big, huge. Kids need limits and parents aren't imposing them. Why aren't parents imposing limits for kids?

Maybe one reason is that they aren't able to impose limits for themselves.

So is the government banning of certain choices that can lead to dangerous or unhealthy practices required?

Well, that depends largely on whether the majority of people will 1) act in a more healthy regulated manner than before the ban or 2) people will rebel against the ban and behave in even an unhealthier manner. Behavior of society comes does to cultural norms. Americans are generally very individualistic. This has both positive and negative affects. Positively, we are diverse, innovative, competitive, driven to succeed, but negatively, we can tend towards selfish, indulgent, divisive behavior without regard for our fellow citizens or the affects of our actions.

So that leaves me knowing that while some people will be helped by the law (those that just were like me and just don't care so much for the extra soda), some people may actually in an act of rebellion and indulgence make their health worse.

I think a better option is taxation on the basis of societal affect, much like with tobacco. There should not be such a drive to tell our citizen's no but more of a drive to say, yes, but. Yes you may have tobacco, but it is unhealthy at this level and negatively affects our population so you must pay revenue back to society to exercise this choice. Likewise, yes you may have soda but it is unhealthy and you must pay revenue back to society to exercise this choice. Essentially, you must pay to play. (Don't get me started on the replacement of an income tax with a pollution tax.)

Taxation and regulation are touchy subjects because individualistic people don't like the government to tell them what to do as it limits the exercise of their personal choices. But some of these same people also like things like national parks, farm subsidizes, student loans, social security, roads, police departments, schools, fire departments and a place that is safe enough from chaos that they can indulge in their Route 44 Cherry Limeade.

There is always an opportunity cost in any choice. You chose to live in a governed nation so your cost is the tax and laws you must pay and follow, even when you think they are silly and over-broad. If you don't like it, I suggest you run for office and change it.

As a New Yorker that constantly sees obese children with their obese parents filling up buses and subways and being totally unable to sit in a seat without them overflowing onto me, I agree with this move.

Most people have no idea how to eat properly. Most of them are true gluttons that pass their bad habits down to their children. In NY, all children under 18 are entited to healthcare through the Medicaid system. That is tax payor money. It's bad enough you have all these obese adults skyrocketing health care costs with their weight-related medical problems, these adults are creating obese, unhealthy children. Those supersized drinks probably have more calories that one normal meal portion. Kids dont know any better. If it not an available option when families go out to eat, people will drink something else. It sucks that this type of control needs to be imposed but it is what it is and its for the better. It's not like the mayor is out right banning these drinks from consumption, he is just banning the ridiculous, unjustified portions of these drinks. They are bad for you and there should be some control exerted on the sale of things that are bad for the public. Its just too bad most of the public cant exercise the control on their own.

"We are smart enough to make our own decisions about what to eat and drink."

Sky rocketing obesity levels suggest otherwise.

It's amazing that so many people whine about the burden that obesity rates imposes on society, including increased healthcare costs but the moment anyone tries to take a step towards tacking it which is remotely harsh people jump up and down squealing "you are breaching my huuuuuuuuuman rights!"

:drinker:

^
Don't worry - it's water.