Mississippi 282, RIP

From ClarionLedger.com:

A state lawmaker on Monday promised a quick death for a bill that would prohibit Mississippi restaurants from serving obese people.

House Public Health and Human Services Committee Chairman Steve Holland announced his intention to kill House Bill 282. The proposed legislation has outraged advocacy groups critical of the legislation and intrigued the national media.
"It's dead on arrival at my desk," Holland, D-Plantersville, said in a news release. "While I appreciate the efforts of my fellow House members to help curb the obesity problem in Mississippi, this is totally the wrong approach."

The bill filed by State Reps. Ted Mayhall, R-Southaven, John Read, R-Gautier, and Bobby Shows, D-Ellisville, would make it illegal for restaurants with more than five seats to serve people who are obese. The criteria for obesity would be set by the state Department of Health, and restaurants that do not comply would have their permits revoked.

The legislation has been referred to a subcommittee, where Holland said he will use a "pocket veto" to kill it. It would have advanced to his committee if it had survived.

Mayhall said Monday he wouldn't vote for the bill. He said he and his colleagues filed it to bring attention to the state's obesity problem, but he never expected to hear from so many people. Media from New York, Australia, London and Ireland have called him since The Clarion-Ledger reported on the bill Sunday, he said.

"You take food away from fat people ... my gosh," Mayhall said.

Obesity makes people more susceptible to diabetes, which puts a further strain on the state's financially-challenged Medicaid program, he said.

A 2007 report put the state's obesity rate at 30.6 percent - the worst in the nation.

Dr. Ed Thompson, state health officer, has previously said Mississippi's obesity rate cost Medicaid alone $221 million each year.

But the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance issued a news release Monday blasting the bill as "a clear and shameless violation of (Mississippians') human and civil rights."

The group described itself as a "nonprofit human rights organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for fat people," and urged voters to boot the lawmakers who filed the legislation.

"These men are wasting their time, which is your money, and could potentially bankrupt your state. Are these the kind of men you want to continue to represent you?" the news release said.

In a separate news release, the Coalition of Fat Rights Activists president Paul McAleer said the bill would "have substantial and negative side effects on Mississippi's economy and health."

"Anyone who supports human rights and freedoms should be opposing this bill - and any subsequent bill," he added.

Cheryle Evans of Clinton said the legislation is "very short-sighted." She said restaurants should be required to provide details of calories, fat grams and carbohydrates on their menus instead. Evans also said more bike paths and sidewalks should be made available.

Holland, who has described himself as obese, said, "I am working on my own health issues, and I need to do that. I think (Gov. Haley Barbour's) take on this is a good idea. Let's all go walking instead of trying to tell restaurants who they can serve."

Barbour appears in television commercials that promote physical activity. Last session, state lawmakers mandated exercise and health education for students in kindergarten through middle school.

Quote of the Day

The "serious problem" [House bill 282] clearly calls attention to is the erosion of basic civil and human rights as war is continually waged against a segment of our population.


From the Association for Size Diversity and Health, in a response to Mississippi House Bill 282, which seeks to bar restaurants from serving food to anyone considered obese by the Mississippi state department of Health. For more, visit ASDAH's website.

For God's sake, repeat after me: There are no bad foods

That's what I feel like saying to the idiots who now want to "salvage" the ridiculous Mississippi bill that would prohibit restaurants from serving food to people considered obese.

Who will be labeled obese, and by whom? Let's not even go there. For now, let's stick with a higher power of absurdity, worthy of Beckett, and talk about the latest twist on this bill: Use it to Save the Children.

Forget about saving the adult fatties, according to this latest spin; let's stick to saving the innocent children. Under the new provisions, children would not be allowed to eat in certain fast food restaurants without a parent present. (Sounds like the concept behind R-rated movies, doesn't it? Do you know the danger you child is able to be exposed to?)

According to John Banzhaf, the idiot behind this new spin,

obese children would still be permitted to order most of the items on a fast food menu. "For example, at McDonald's, even a Double Cheeseburger and Quarterpounder, or a Filet-O-Fish or McChicken, has fewer than 500 calories. Those food items the child should not be served include: the Double Quarter Pounder With Cheese (740 calories), Premium Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich (660 calories), several deserts [sic], etc.

What's the cutoff here? 500 calories = OK, 600 calories = instant obesity?

Banzhaf, a professor of public interest law at George Washington University, needs a lesson in psychology. Actually he needs lessons in a whole lot of other fields, but let's start with psychology. Does the term forbidden fruit hold any meaning? How about banned books? See, we humans are constructed to always want what we cannot have.

And when it comes to food, that goes double. The biggest reason why 95% of diets do not work is that depriving yourself leads to later cycles of binging. You tell your body it can't have chocolate, and watch your chocolate cravings soar. Whereas if you tell your body, Chocolate's fine, no big deal, work it into your day if you really want it, well, your chocolate consumption will over the long term drop. A lot.

Do we really want a double quarter pounder with cheese to become the Holy Grail of a generation of children? Cause that's what will happen should your ridiculous plan come to fruition.

Here's another pearl of wisdom: The more we try to micromanage our metabolisms, the more badly we fuck them up. Dieting leads to eating disorders and even more weight gain. How about, instead of banning foods like they were chapters of Lady Chatterley's Lover, we invest in teaching children the joys of intuitive eating?

Oh, yeah, that would take a complete cultural paradigm shift. And it wouldn't make for such a great sound byte.


P.S. I don't eat at McDonald's; I don't like their food. My kids have never eaten there. I'm not a shill for the fast-food industry. I'm a reasonable human being who believes that people come in all shapes and sizes, that you can be fat and healthy, and that discriminating against and humiliating fat people seems to be the new national sport. Whatever happened to baseball?