The food police are at it again

Child obesity is on the rise, as is adulthood obesity, but I’ll leave the latter topic for another day.  With an administration that firmly believes, “we’re the government and we’re here to help”, a task force was formed to solve this problem.  So, why are more and more children becoming obese?

There may well be several causes. 

Back in the day when I was a kid, there was school recess.  You went outside and played games…hopscotch, jump rope, dodge ball.  Then, after school, you went home, finished your homework as fast as you could, and went out with your friends to play baseball, football or basketball.

Today, there is no school recess because the lawyers are hovering ready to sue any school if a student is injured.  And, coming home after school means sitting down at the computer to play games.

In spite of the obvious, our trusty federal government task force has decided that childhood obesity is caused by television commercials advertising “unhealthy” foods during children’s TV programs, and thus, this must be stopped.

…an interagency government task force proposed new ‘voluntary‘ guidelines on food marketing aimed at kids under 17 that defines prohibited foods so broadly that it would curtail advertising not only of Froot Loops and soda but also of Cheerios and yogurt. The task force acknowledges that ‘a large percentage of food products currently in the marketplace’—88 of the 100 most-advertised foods and drinks, according to the Association of National Advertisers—’would not meet the [guidelines].’ Those guidelines are currently at the White House, where the administration faces heavy pressure from do-gooder types and the public-health lobby to approve them. [emphasis supplied]

But, then again we still have a First Amendment.  The federal government can’t tell General Mills, for example, that it cannot advertise Cheerios on certain shows on TV.  (Before I receive comments about the federal government and cigarette advertising, know that the cigarette companies voluntarily stopped advertising on TV.)

In response to this First Amendment issue,

…Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, has hinted that if the food industry doesn’t adopt the guidelines he will seek congressional action.

A couple of thoughts here…

…how “voluntary” is this proposed regulation if Congress can ultimately mandate it, and, more to the point, how can Congress erase freedom of speech from our Constitution?

Now that I think about it, what kid wouldn’t pay attention to commercials about broccoli and asparagus?

 

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SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

12 Comments

  1. Plainvillian on April 22, 2012 at 9:37 pm

    Could there be more than one factor influencing body mass indexes? ? Has the interagency government task force studied obesity in Amish children? Oh wait, the Amish children are not pampered little parasites, but contributors to the family economic unit with chores and responsibilities.? Never mind, we can’t have anything like that in the general population; the little darlings’ self esteem might be impacted.



  2. Lynn on April 23, 2012 at 7:03 am

    Gives anther whole meaning to “May the? Force be with you” , now doesn’t it?



  3. phil on April 23, 2012 at 11:34 am

    Wrap the little crumb-crunchers in bubble wrap and feed them rice cakes and arugula.



  4. Tim-in-Alabama on April 23, 2012 at 11:51 am

    Another reason for the rise in childhood obesity is the war on bullying. Many children got a great deal of exercise running from bullies.



    • justbrewit on April 23, 2012 at 12:35 pm

      Thanks, Tim!? Now I have to wipe coffee off my monitor!



  5. GdavidH on April 23, 2012 at 7:17 pm

    SOS, have you been stressed? You said,
    “?how ?voluntary? is this proposed regulation if Congress can ultimately mandate it, and, more to the point, how can Congress erase freedom of speech from our Constitution?

    Obamacare and Nancy Pelosi’s recent comments about amending the constitution?should explain everything.

    Just being a little snarky with ya.?????



  6. dairyair on April 23, 2012 at 7:42 pm

    ?we?re the government and we?re here to help?…THE SCARIEST SEVEN WORDS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!



  7. DanC on April 25, 2012 at 6:58 am

    The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule it.



    • johnboy111 on April 25, 2012 at 1:50 pm

      The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false face for the urge to rule it[HL Mencken]



  8. RoBrDona on April 25, 2012 at 1:46 pm

    My kids play sports at a high level. They do homework. They volunteer for various community events. If and when they are done with that, they get to watch some TV (we do not have any video game boxes in the house and the IPhone use is limited). We eat out rarely and when we do it is not fast food. Remarkably, they do not complain, as they now (at 14 and 16) recognize that they are a solid step up on the majority of the slugs they go to school with. This is not rocket science.



  9. Lynn on April 26, 2012 at 8:23 am

    I ate a glazed donut yesterday for the first time in years. It was wonderful! Food police stay away from me!



  10. PatRiot on April 30, 2012 at 8:09 pm

    In the absence of self control, we have rules to control everything else.?
    And control freaks who miss the opportunity to lead and settle for babysitting.



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