The Right Way to Fight Obesity

Nanny-state activism will not be as effective as market-based reforms.

by Henry I. Miller and Jeff Stier

Among the contentious food issues to be addressed by public policy this year is obesity, which affects Americans of all ages. It occurs in 12.4 percent of children ages 2 to 5, 17 percent of those ages 6 to 11 and 17.6 percent of those ages 12 to 19. It takes a toll on the joints, is associated with several risk factors for cardiovascular disease (including high blood pressure, abnormal lipid patterns, and Type 2 diabetes), and is linked to cancers of the esophagus, breast, uterus, colon, rectum, kidney, pancreas, thyroid, and gallbladder.

Is curbing obesity primarily the responsibility of the government? The self-appointed food police think so, and they are not shy about making their views known. Along the way, their extreme rhetoric demonizes big food producers and characterizes food marketers as little better than child molesters. They've even made the counterintuitive claim that First Lady Michelle Obama is a corporate shill and her "Let's Move" campaign is a publicity stunt, intended to distract the public from what they think are better, more aggressive solutions……Yet "moderation," "personal responsibility," "parenting," and even "exercise" are inconvenient concepts to uncompromising activists like Simon, whose website, “appetiteforprofit.com” deems corporate profits the underlying cause of obesity.…..To Read More…..

My Take – Once again we find central planners completely unable to grasp the problem they claim they’re trying to solve.  It’s calories in, calories out.  When we start to see the nation's ball diamonds in public parks filling up every day with ball players during the summer we will see the ‘plague’ of obesity end.  Once again…..Its calories in, calories out, calories in, calories out, calories in, calories out….please repeat that ten more times and you can claim it’s your own and then send it to the obesity activists and central planning  regulation mongers.  They won’t get it, but it may drive them crazy if it keeps being repeated over and over again, like a song you can’t get out of your head, and drive them out of public life.  However….they already seem insane to me and they haven’t left yet.