Is Bloomberg's paved good intentions a road to hell?

Mayor Michael Bloomberg no doubt has good intentions. Don’t we all. However, his passionate emotions do not add up to good science, good government, or pragmatic implementation.

If we all wanted to be thin and fit, we would exercise and eat right. But we don’t. So is it the responsibility of government to be the Jiminy Cricket of our eating conscience? Simply put…no. I will explain my answer by addressing three major reasons how his new “soda ban” in New York City is flawed.

First. Is it good science?

The assumption is that sugary drinks lead to obesity. Do they? No. In fact it may be just the opposite. Diet drinks are more likely to be a causal affect in weight gain. What?  Here is a portion of an article from dailymail.co.uk.

 A study of almost 500 men and women linked low-calorie soft drinks with bulging waistlines, revealed that those who downed two or more diet fizzy drinks a day saw their waistbands expand at five times the rate of those who never touched the stuff. The results were so dramatic that the American researchers advise that people ditch their diet drinks and use water to quench their thirst instead.

Those who cannot bear to give up the sugar rush may be better off drinking normal full-sugar fizzy drinks.

Professor Helen Hazuda, of the University of Texas’s health science centre, said diet sodas and artificial sweeteners may foster a sweet tooth, distort appetite and even damage key brain cells. As a result, treating them as healthy alternatives may be ill advised. The professor, who no longer drinks diet colas and lemonades, said: ‘They may be free of calories but not of consequences.’

Back in New York the ban stated (you guessed it) that a diet soda, a milk shake or sweetened latte that is larger than 16 ounces wouldn't be banned. In other words, not only is Bloomberg wrong on the science, he is actually encouraging people to get fatter 

Second. Is it good policy?

A majority of polled New Yorkers didn’t want the ban on soda, but the board of health directors appointed by Bloomberg pushed ahead with the judgment anyway. People get nervous when government intervenes in their behavior…especially when it comes to their stomachs. We like to eat and drink what we want regardless of the negative outcomes. Most of us thought that dictatorships ended when we became an adult and didn’t have to listen to mom or dad telling us to eat the vegetables we hated. Well welcome to Bloomberg’s big brother world…or is it a nanny world? In any case, all this will end up doing is infuriating the soft drink and cup manufactures, who make money and provide jobs...not to mention the people who just want a drink large enough to sustain them in central park on a hot day.

Three. Will the Soda Ban accomplish its goal?

The ban states that it will have no effect on people who buy 16 ounces of soda or more at the grocery store. Then why have the law? Why punish only the restaurants and outside venders and give the stores a free ride?

Setting the stores aside, will selling 12 ounce drinks have as Bloomberg put it “get you to drink in moderation”? Even if people buy a 12 ounce drink from a fast food chain, hasn’t Bloomberg heard of refills? That 12 ounce cup can be refilled as Lional Richie put it, “once, twice, three times a lady.”

And what of those smugglers driving in from New Jersey, New Rochelle, and other locations outside the five boroughs? Will police really enforce the smuggling of a 16 ounce drink?

How about other sugar drinks. The 16 ounce soda is about 200 calories. A 16 oz Latte is over 200, a mocha coffee is over 300, and a milkshake is over 600 calories. Should we ban these as well? Where does this end? Politicians can be so upside down in their thinking that the obviously cruel substances like tobacco are perfectly legal -- but soft drinks over 16 ounces should be outlawed?

Final thoughts

You may think that those New York City folk are different and that it couldn’t happen in your city. Why not? Politicians are just as gullible in your area as they are in New York. Once this kind of thing happens in one part of the nation, well meaning people across the country step all over themselves to be next.

Don’t get me wrong. It is understandable that we take steps to curb obesity. Weight gain of the U.S. American has, pardon the pun, ballooned in the last few decades. However, looking at good science and working on a comprehensive plan that the citizens can agree to is ultimately best medicine.