No Food for Thought

No Food for Thought


Don’t throw away that New Year’s resolution to lose weight just yet. If law makers in Mississippi have their way, you might need to really stick to that diet if you visit their state. Legislation was recently introduced that would band restaurants from serving obese people. Bill No. 282 contains the key to the future of the obese in Mississippi. Restaurants would keep a scale there to measure your BMI and if >30, could refuse to serve an obese customer. I suppose legislators equate this to refusing alcohol to someone who has had too many drinks.

Obesity is a disease that affects approximately 60 million people in the United States. With the increase in pre-packaged foods, the increased number of fast food restaurants, and lack of activity; the number of obese people in America has had a steady rise since the 1960’s. No wonder we have an obesity epidemic in the United States. Food is everywhere-on television, vending machines and on busy roadways with potential traveling customers. Food is involved in just about every fiber of our daily lives. If you couple this with a life of sitting behind desks and cars, you have a recipe for obesity.

Well, whose fault is it? This is difficult to answer given that people are free and can make the choice to eat healthier foods. We live in culture where the environment has dictated a lack of activity. With the advancement of technology, it has made us more sedentary. We have remote televisions, elevators, and fast foods. There are even cars set up to hold our food. In addition, it is cheaper to buy a burger for a dollar versus buying a six dollar salad at the salad bar. It costs more to eat healthier.

Obesity, however, does not come without a cost. Obese people run the risk of chronic deadly conditions such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. So, why do we still over eat knowing that obesity can cause these conditions? And this is the question that lawmakers have probably asked themselves and the reason for the proposed bill.

Mississippi has found themselves at the top of the list of the fattest people in the country. This has happened for the third year. There has been an increase in death rates from cardiovascular diseases and cancer for which obesity was a factor. Mississippi also holds the record of being the first state to record an obesity rate at over 30%.

As a result, law makers have decided to take matters into their own hands. If this legislation is passed, it would be enacted this summer. For the restaurants that do not adhere to this law, they would be sited and probable fined. The department would monitor compliance and have the power to revoke violators' permits. "I was trying to shed a little light on the number one health problem in Mississippi," co-sponsor Republican Rep. John Read of Gautier, a former pharmaceutical company sales representative, told the Associated Press, acknowledging that at five feet, 11 inches (1.8 meters) and 230 pounds (104 kilograms), he might get the restaurant boot under his own bill.
This is certainly discrimination and stereotyping against obese people to say the least. If an obese person walks into a restaurant, will that person be stopped at the door? How do we know this person does not want to order a salad? Now we are policing people on the lowest level. Will that customer need to carry around a doctor’s note confirming they are indeed on a diet? Where will it end? Will it extend to grocery stores as well? There are many other causes for obesity. Will this individual need to carry proof that their obesity is due to steroid medications? We would just be looking at people and judging them according to their weight. So, I guess this would lead to the hiring of only skinny waiters and waitresses; which would be another form of discrimination against the obese.
There are many other ways to help obese people over come this disease besides policing their restaurant visiting habits.

Although some law makers in Mississippi state that the bill will never reach the committee and onto the floor of the legislature for a vote; just the thought that someone proposed this is very disturbing. I don’t’ believe this will be the last if this debate. As a country, we are constantly battling racial and social discrimination, but we have not come to real terms with our discrimination of over weight people. Look at how some airline companies want to charge double fair for an obese person if they require two seats. Obese people have been the target of discrimination for many years because their problem is perceived to be controllable. With a law like this, overweight people would continue to suffer across the board. The introduction of this bill this has sparked a dialogue about the obesity epidemic. However, it has given someone else the ammunition to continue the attack on the obese people of America.