| In: Public Health Policy
Proposed Mississippi Law Would Resurrect Segregation, this Time Against the Obese
Statistics show Mississippi has the highest obesity rates in the country. However, creating a law to prevent restaurants from serving the obese is clearly not the solution and has generated a great deal of controversy.
A bill that would force some Mississippians to back away from the buffet, or any restaurant, has begun its trip through the 2008 Legislature.
House Bill 282 would prohibit restaurants from serving food to anyone who is obese, based on criteria from the state Department of Health.
Restaurateurs and an advocacy group say the legislation is a waste of time, and even one of the lawmakers pushing it doesn’t expect it to travel very far.
State Rep. Ted Mayhall, R-Southaven, said he’s simply hoping to “call attention to the problem.”
“No one’s doing anything about it,” Mayhall said, referring to obesity. “They just keep on going to the buffets and eating.”
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 that state’s obesity rate at 30.6 percent – the worst in the nation.
Mayhall said the bill has been referred to a House subcommittee. If it advances, it would be discussed in the House Public Health and Human Services Committee.
Dr. Ed Thompson, state health officer, has previously said Mississippi’s obesity rate cost Medicaid alone $221 million each year.
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“I’ve seen a lot of crazy laws, but this one takes the cake. Literally,” said J. Justin Wilson, a senior research analyst for the Center for Consumer Freedom. “Whether it is menu labeling laws, taxes on fattening foods, or Mississippi’s new “you’re too fat to eat here” proposal, the food police have gone too far.”
Mississippi also ranks “dead last” in the country for physical activity, Wilson said.
“Maybe the state’s Legislature should do something to help people burn more calories instead of pretending that eating out is a cardinal sin,” he said.
McDonald’s restaurant owner Mike Rutzer of Greenville agreed.
“It just staggers the imagination to think what our government will come up with next,” he said. “It’s discriminatory. Now we’re picking and choosing who to serve?”
Jackson restaurateur LeRoy Walker said lawmakers should focus on “health care, education, overall economic reform for our state. People on the Coast are still impacted from Hurricane Katrina.”
“I think the individual who may have some challenges with their weight needs to govern themselves accordingly with the choices they put on their plates,” he added.
DeShawn Walker, who was eating an early dinner with his mother Saturday evening at Big Mama’s Country Cooking Buffet in south Jackson, said the bill equals discrimination.
Mississippi’s obese have an advocate with PETA:
A provocative bill introduced by state representative W.T. Mayhall Jr. that would bar Mississippi restaurants from serving obese people has captured PETA’s attention, but the group is suggesting an amendment. The animal rights group thinks it can do HB282 one better: instead of refusing to serve overweight people altogether–something that would raise the ire of restaurants and patrons alike if the bill were actually passed and implemented–PETA is proposing that restaurants be required to serve only healthy vegan meals to consumers who are struggling with their weight.
Citing research studies that show that vegans and vegetarians are much thinner on average than their meat-eating counterparts, PETA points out that most vegan foods are naturally high in fiber (there is none in meat and dairy products), and low in fat and contain zero cholesterol (which is only found in animal products).
“There’s no reason to starve fat people–they just need to pile their plates with healthy, vegan food,” says PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich. “Vegan meals like hearty vegetable casseroles, bean burritos, and pasta with mushrooms, tomatoes, and green peppers not only are satisfying but will slim you right down too.”
You can read the letter PETA sent on their Web site. They do make an excellent point. Prohibiting people from eating will not solve problems, but finding healthy restaurant food bountifully available will help all of us.