NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg is either a public-health visionary or the honorary president of the nanny state, depending on how you feel about smoking on the beach or posting calorie counts on the menus of chain restaurants.
For his next sure-to-be-debated move, the mayor has joined the governor of New York, David Paterson, in a request that the USDA’s food stamp program disallow NYC residents from using the federal benefit to buy soda and other sugary drinks. As the WSJ reports, Paterson and Bloomberg are asking for a two-year trial ban, in the hopes it would reduce purchases and make some dent in chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity.
The mayor’s office is backing up its reasoning with the stat that nearly 40% of NYC public primary- and middle-schoolers are overweight or obese. Moreover, poorer kids are more likely to have weight problems, it says.
If the USDA agrees to the request, NYC residents wouldn’t be allowed to use food stamps to buy beverages including sodas, sports drinks and fruit drinks with added sugar. Milk (and substitutes like soy or rice milk) and fruit juices without added sugar would be allowed, the paper says.
Okay, Health Blog readers — what do you think?
Photo: Getty Images
No comments:
Post a Comment