What is the role of the government in educating its citizens about an unhealthy diet?

The government and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services created the Healthy People 2010, which is “a broad collaborative effort that includes scientific expertise from the government, academia, and the private sector” creating a set of disease prevention and health promotion objectives for America. This is a great step by the government to educate the citizens and set guidelines for getting the American population on a healthy path.

On the Center for Individual Freedom website, in a hearing in the House Government Reform Committee a report was given about the “Supersizing of America.” In this hearing, some liberal interest groups such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest were mentioned for supporting the use of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase federal regulation on our food choices. This is based on the belief that Americans cannot make responsible choices about what to eat and drink. The same interest groups have been pushing for legislation for a new federal tax on junk foods, sodas, and snacks calling it the “Twinkie Tax.” The government has already been regulating foods in schools. For example, the types of foods in the vending machines have changed over the past few years, from candy and soda to crackers and juice.

I’m not sure if anyone noticed but if you walk into a chain restaurant in California these days and look at the menu, you will see the calorie amounts for the items listed. Calories and other nutritional information have been out in some form, like brochures, but as of January of this year, many restaurants are required to display calories alongside items on the menu.Listing calories on menus is intended to help consumers make more informed and healthier food choices when they dine out. But recent studies show that may not be the case. A yearlong study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found customers’ orders were unaffected by menu labeling.

What kind of food choices are you making?? What kind of example are you setting for your kids??

www.cfif.org/htdocs/legislative_issues/state_issues/supersizing_america.htm

http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/menus-list-calories-californians-may-not-be-counting-8360