New York City’s healthy leap forward

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Created on Tuesday, 25 September 2012 15:31

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Opinion

By Juan Jaimez

Just recently, New York City passed a controversial ban of the sale of sugary drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces in restaurants and other locations.

Spearheaded by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, a well-known assailant against obesity, the ban will take effect in six months and is meant to reduce obesity levels and promote a healthier lifestyle for NY. I side with Bloomberg's decision and do not see anything wrong with the ban.

First off, I am surprised that the choice to promote a healthier lifestyle has been met with so much opposition, but then again, the spokespeople that are against the ban represent Coca-Cola and McDonald's.

With the ban, their wallets will get hit hard. The opposition depicts Bloomberg as a power-abusing man who thinks that New Yorkers are unintelligent enough to make their own decisions. Many New Yorkers feel that the government is dictating what they can and cannot consume and trying to control their lives.

The ban does not control New Yorker's diets. They are free to consume what they want and as much as they want as long as they want. They just cannot buy a sugar-filled beverage in a container larger than 16 ounces. This does not mean that they cannot go get refills in order to satisfy their need for empty calories and obesity-inducing sugars. I mean, are the oppositionists so lazy to get up and refill their drinks that they must fight for larger sizes? I just cannot wrap my mind around the idea that people are fighting for something that promotes bad health! Talk about first world pains.

As stated on CNN, Bloomberg said that "New York City spends an estimated $4 billion each year on medical care for overweight people." With the ban, Bloomberg envisions that New Yorkers will chose to live healthy lifestyles and reduce the approximately 58% of obese New Yorkers.

Bloomberg is not a control freak or a communist that wants to control New Yorkers’ lives, but someone who is concerned about the lives of his citizens. Along with this ban, he also has banned outdoor smoking in public places in order to reduce the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, campaigned against underage drinking, promoted the Salads in School program that provides salad bars in all of NY's elementary school cafeterias (obesity rates in elementary and middle school students has lowered in the past 5 years), made chain restaurants display their calorie count on all their food on the menu, and banned trans-fat in all of New York City. He also has plans to reduce the amount of salt used in restaurants.

Kudos to Bloomberg for advocating healthy life styles and caring for his people. I think that if the same initiative would happen here in California, not as many people would try to oppose it and would accept it.

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Editor: Hannah Vehrs

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