Remind Me to Never Move to New York

Health "experts" tell us that obesity is a national epidemic. There are a myriad of factors associated with obesity, and we would be wise not to generalize the causes, as individual situations may be unique. But as a portly fellow myself these days, I can vouch that in my case, and perhaps many cases, it is simply a matter of choice: I have settled into a lifestyle that leaves little time for exercise, allows for too much time sitting in a chair in front of the computer, and keeps me more or less entrenched in my sedentary ways. I can further acknowledge that this is not a wise set of choices in terms of health and balance, but they are the choices that I make. Inertia is a pain.

However, in that bastion of social policy experimentation, New York City, the mayor has gone on a quest to make New Yorkers the healthiest people in the nation. How? By regulating what food they get to buy, serve, and eat in virtually every corner of their lives. A few years ago, Mayor Bloomberg banned trans fats. Now, he's seeking to restrict the sizes of the sugared drinks people choose to buy:

New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity.

The proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of popular sugary drinks found in delis, fast-food franchises and even sports arenas, from energy drinks to pre-sweetened iced teas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces — about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle — would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March.

Read the whole article at the New York Times. Inside is a handy graphic that illustrates what is allowed and disallowed. No more large size sodas at Yankee Stadium. Of course, if you are thirsty, you can always buy two sodas - and I'll wager it will cost you more at the concession stand than it did before this regulation. Granted, it is still a "proposed" regulation, but that's just semantics. It will be reality soon enough.

You know what is excluded from this ban? Diet drinks. Drinks that have completely artificial sweeteners and other byproducts that have absolutely no value in promoting bodily health. So what, you walk up to the concession stand and get a super large drink - but only if it is diet? How on earth do you enforce that, unless you have inspectors at every spot to watch with eagle eyes what's been put into the cup?

The point is that even with this regulation, people will still be able to buy the amount and type of sugared drinks they want. Only the packaging size will be affected. Which of course raises the obvious point: the regulation will be nothing but a nuisance, but it will come at a cost as all regulations do. And that cost will be passed onto the consumer. Ten years from now, if New Yorkers on average become less obese, you can be sure that it will have nothing to do with the over-regulating impulse of an eccentric mayor, but rather because of the choices each individual makes. I'm sure though, that the mayor would take the credit.