Obesity is a staggering problem in America. The most recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website report that 78.6 million adults and 12.7 million children and adolescents are obese. In 2008, this problem created a medical cost of $147 billion. Recently, the New York City Task Force website proposed a ban on large, sugary drinks to address the obesity problem. However, obesity is a complex problem in America that cannot be solved effectively by banning large, sugary drinks.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) website informs us that the causes of obesity are lack of energy balance, an inactive lifestyle, negative environmental factors (such as oversized food portions), genes and family history, health
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People will learn to maintain a healthy weight if they are educated on making healthy choices, correct portion size, and exercise. For example, the NIH website offers a Serving Size Card that can be printed and laminated. Individuals can keep this with them at all times to help show them the proper serving size of all the food groups. One of the guidelines is a serving size of cereal flakes should be the size of your fist. The New York City Obesity Task Force proclaims that the ban “can change the default and help reacquaint New Yorkers with ‘human size’ portions to reduce excessive consumption of sugary drinks.” Yes, banning the large sodas would reduce consumption of sugar raise awareness to their sugar intake, but this ban is like putting a band-aid on a serious wound. The money and effort used for this ban would be more effective if used for education and support of healthy behaviors that reduce obesity. The CDC Strategies to Prevent Obesity recommend “a multi-faceted approach; policy makers, state and local organizations, business and community leaders, school, childcare and healthcare professional, and individuals must work together to create an environment that supports a healthy lifestyle.” They list many successful programs on their website that they have put in place around the country to reduce