I, too, wish people would do it on their own. This being said I think it is wrong that the government is doing this. When it it going to stop? What will be next??

I am generally very liberal but I don't like this kind of government interference.
What I really dislike is a lot of fast food places charge so little for the big sizes.

I don't even drink soda and this ticks me off!

Ditto, susie! Why not tax the bejeebers out of it, like alcohol, cigatettes, gasoline, property? If a $1 soft drink suddenly became $6 wouldn't that take care of the sugar epidemic, like with cigarettes and alcohol? And if it was taxed that way on the Federal level, it would help with the national debt!

A fat tax is a great idea--why didn't they think of that? They probably did, and rejected it for some reason.

But that's yet another slippery slope. Where does it end?

What about vegans, will they want everyone to stop eating anything made from animals?

Vegeterians, veges only?

People allergic to dairy? Cut out dairy?

No peanuts? No salt?

Parents need to start being parents and teach and discipline their own children. Actually discipline themselves first! They need to give them stable homes with security and love and discipline.

Not count on the governement, daycare, teachers, the church or anyone else to do their job. That would be a huge start.

Wh I go to fast-food places (too often,I admit) I always ask for a small soda. It's plenty enough.

I lurk here a lot, and when I post am subtly ignored, but truly enjoy most of the topics.
However this ongoing intrusion of government has me severely concerned.
I find it highly upsetting that a government designed to protect us has integrated itself into our personal lives!
This is a very slippery slope and the fact that so many can not see it worries me greatly.
I did not realize that sugar is the devil, I thought it was everything in moderation.
Getting down off my soapbox now, just think about how far this government is willing to go and how far the American people will allow such intrusion?
What happened to being responsible for ones choices and accepting the consequences of those choices?

Maid

Maid, I suspect most of us agree with what you say. It makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, so much in government, and in human behavior, makes little sense.

I'm sorry your posts have been "subtly ignored." Perhaps posters were focused on some others for some reason.

PS: "Everything in moderation" is a good mantra, but I take a hard line on sugar because it can be damaging in a number of ways and because it is often so addictive.

They are banning them at many locations, yet you can walk into a "store" and still buy it. Makes no sense.

Katlan - you post is spot on! What next!

I have allowed my kids to have sugary drinks "in moderation". I have educated them, but not lectured them, on the health considerations when drinking too much.

They are all in their teens now, and I no longer "moderate". But I do see them doing it on their own. They enjoy a pop, but they will have one small bottle or small size from the fountain and that is it. Most times they will pick unsweetened tea as their drink choice. I would estimate they maybe have one pop a week, if that. They just don't crave it.

Parents need to PARENT when the kids are young.

It's kind of silly to enact this ban; I doubt it will help anyone.

I was surprised recently when DH and I went to the movie (to see Battleship which was awful by the way). DH went to get popcorn and a soda. The soda which was a "small" was enough for 4 people. It looked like a quart of soda.

Maid--Don't feel bad, no one is ignoring you! Most of us make posts which get no particular replies, so don't take it personally and keep on participating. We need input from everyone who has something to say....OK?

If I lived in NYC, I'd be walking around with a Big Gulp cup that I filled up myself just to annoy the people who are telling businesses that they cannot sell it. Will they next outlaw a 6-pack of soda, or a 2-liter bottle? How about diet drinks, can I still buy a Big Gulp Diet Dr. Pepper?

I can't stand the government intrusions and rules about food/drink. Bad enough that they go after the very legal cigarette (taxes on a pack of cigarettes in NYC are ridiculous, and no, I don't smoke) with all the federal and states taxes and new laws, some businesses are failing because of these laws in my neighboring state of MO and probably in every other state, too.

And I guess McDonald's won't be able to super-size their fries soon, too. Geeze. I really hate having all these new "rules". I thought once I got to be an adult, I would be allowed to make my own decisions. Silly me.

I strongly disapprove of this ban. Ok, so obesity is epidemic. It's not the governments place to decide what we can and can't eat and how much. Glad I don't live in NY.

As negative as I feel about sugar, I have to agree that this law is not only intrusive but doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I'm surprised it got this far, and I won't be surprised it someone challenges it as unconstitutional.

Hello Maid. I am 100% in agreement with what you said.

I agree with Maid! Oh, and my posts get ignored a lot too. But what the heck, I keep on posting! ahahahahaha

Government out of control - you can't legislate common sense and personal accountability and responsibility - which is what we really need. More "dumbing down" of America - assuming people can't make any decisions for themselves.

The government isn't going to legislate obesity away - as long as there is food people will choose to be obese.

It's crazy! What good is that going to do anyway? I don't even think that people have enough sense to know that a huge soda is like eating a half cup of sugar and do they even GET that sugar makes you fat if you eat too much? I don't even think they get it. It seems like for some reason people have gotten some ridiculous idea that the only thing that will make you fat is fat grams. Well look around and see how is that working for ya!? HA! Everyone is worried about the fat grams they consume while getting more and more HUGE! GAH! Somebody please...figure it out already!

Where would the ban stop, next ice cream, candy bars,on and on...? And taxing it someone suggested it's helped with cigs and booze? How's that? I see people smoking everywhere and surely alcoholics will still be finding a way to drink no matter what the taxes are!

So, if I want a lot of soda I'll order 2 of whatever size.
I'm tired of the government trying to take care of me.
This proposal is absurd. It will never pass.

....and yet in other jurisdictions, marijuana has been legalized....

I guarantee...the current price of the large ones will now be the price of the new, smaller size.

It appears that most ppl are missing the most important part of this proposed legislation.......

Our politicians, at all government levels should be concentrating on cutting spending, balancing our budgets and creating jobs....but instead they are staying passing all this kind on nonesense in an effort to give the illusion that they are working, while the real problems confronting them go untouched and its business as usual in the political & corporate boardrooms.

Just once I would like to see a politician stand up for something that would actually serve the ppl, instead of pissing around with all the nonesense that will win him/her votes.

To the Mayor of NYC....Who the hell do you think you are ???Surely on the list of things that NEED to be done to clean up the city...oh lets see...like CRIME..soda is at the bottom of the list.
Now get busy and do something worthwhile. What a joke !!!!

June

Everyone knows sugar is bad. The sugar rots your teeth and can lead to obesity, which in turn leads to high blood pressure, heart and kidney problems, diabetes, etc. NYC mayor only wants to ban sale of big sugary drinks, not diet pop or large coffees, which I know you could stir many spoons of sugar into, or sodapop sold in large bottles in groceries. . People resent this incursion of Big Brother, but I know the Mayor means well. Perhaps all the hoopla will remind people to think about what they put into their mouths.

Here's an idea, maybe they should get busy and put home ec back in school. Seriously, it seems like very many people have no idea how to cook these days! On the news, they always speak to people from the food banks and apparently the lack of even the simplest knowledge of how to cook is a huge problem these days! They were talking about having a classes for the people that use the food bank to teach them how to cook. Which leads back to the issue of people eating at fast food restaurants simply because they don't even know how to cook a vegetable!

If "they" are serious about promoting healthy eating habits, let's start with infants. Formula should be sold only by prescription. There I've said the unspeakable. Resources should be spent on educating and supporting new mothers to give their babies a healthy start. Formula should be reserved for only the unique instances where there are special conditions that require it.

The media should pay as much attention to milk banks as they do blood banks. Of course this will be unlikely to happen in the US any time soon. It will have to start in Europe and then we might take to the idea out of sheer competitiveness.

Let's work on the problem of why so many women are "failing" to nurse their babies. Why do so many women who start give it up so soon?

The questions are rhetorical to those of us who wholeheartedly understand the process but educating the entire population, not just new mothers who bother to sign up for classes, should be a public health priority.

Chemicals in a bottle to sweetened fluids to sippy cups filled with "juice" not to nourish but to keep the little ones busy. Not a great leap to a Big Gulp in later years. The whole dang society walking around with giant jugs of fluids everywhere they go. Then the need to "stay hydrated" gets used as a reason. It's not like we all live in the outback or the middle of the Sahara. Fluids, especially water are available everywhere you might need them should one get actually thirsty.

Everything is about instant oral gratification. Everyone packs snacks and fluids like they expect a disaster to hit at any moment. Vehicles,strollers and shopping carts all have cup holders. Like one can't do 20 minutes of grocery shopping or take a walk around the block or drive to the bank without sucking on on a straw,spout or plastic nipple of some kind.

I haven't looked into it - does this also ban non-sugar beverages? If not, maybe now it'll be easier to get unsweetened tea without the FAS-afflicted interfering and forcing the sugar into it. I don't go off the deep end about the "gu'mint interfering wit our lives" philosophy any more than the sugar is "evil", everything is "addictive" and other equally radical and nonsensical comments. It just makes me wonder if some age groups grew up eating paint chips while they lived under power lines.

Too much sugar isn't good, no doubt. Too much of anything is bad but people can't accept common sense and moderation. Fat a$$es have to blame someone else. "I'm addicted" is such a popular phrase to cover for their own lack of self control, nay, personal responsibility all the way from sugar to tobacco to sex and any number of other items they won't use in moderation.

And then comes the "sin tax" proponents. Usually ones who don't like a subject so "tax it!!!" becomes the mantra but they usually won't go for stupidity tax that is far more logical. Why should stupid people be reimbursed for their stupid actions? Bailing out people for buying a house they can't afford (but that's for another thread). How about the diaper tax? Disposable diaper wearing kids are far more likely to be obese so let's tax the diapers that are filling up the landfills. (Probably another thread topic too!)

Fat kids are 99% caused by lazy parents. But no, we have to have an excuse and blame someone else - can't be our fault.

What's most laughable is to suggest this will solve obesity. OK, take away the soft drink. That 2-Big Mac, double-supersize fries, a (healthier now) "baked" apple pie (since fried burned too many stupid people and now we have to have cold coffee too...), a side of a 20 piece nuggets, all drowning in ketchup and then wash it all down with something healthy like an Arctic Orange shake. Thank you do-gooders! People will look anorexic in no time. Boy this will really solve the problem won't it?

Why don't those politicians just go get a hooker and quit causing problems?

And the other rib-tickler is the ones who keep talking that everything homemade is so much healthier, and set up pigs like Paula Deen as role models. Yep, add the sugar to the vegetables, cream cheese to the potatoes, sugar syrup to tea, honey, sugar and syrup to ham, marshmallows on sweet potatoes, more sugar on the dinner rolls and there you have a really healthy homemade meal. Why aren't the health nuts on a tirade about s'mores?

When my SIL's kids were little, she never let them drink sodapop, only apple juice. Guess whose kids now have terrible teeth?

Shouldn't they be banning fried twinkies,fried snickers and chocolate covered bacon at the fairs?

Are they going to limit the amount of sugar people put in their coffee? I don't drink coffee but I have watched many people in restaurants who do make a zero calorie cup of coffee into the caloric equivalent of a light beer or a glass of soda by adding 4 or more of those individual half and half cups and several heaping spoons of sugar. Multiply that by the second, third or even fourth cup of coffee.

Agree with Cynic on the sweetened (and flavored)teas. If I wanted Koolaid I wouldn't be asking for tea.

People are idiots about nutrition. Yesterday I lunched with a woman who is on a diet. Low carb of course. She insisted they leave grilled mushrooms off her sandwich. Told us at the table she wished she could have them but they were grilled so would have oil in them. Never mind the rest of her sandwich was grilled chicken ,bacon, processed cheese food and mayo on fake whole wheat that had 50% more calories than white bread and and possibly 70% more than sourdough which is evil food since she won't eat carbs. LOL

Since putting herself on her no carb/low carb diet (to "prevent" diabetes) she has gained almost 20 pounds and can't figure out why.

Nutritional education is the key. Not the stuff that nutritional faddists push on daytime television and internet blogs but real science based nutrition by real dieticians.

wildchild, you got that right about people being idiots when it comes to nutrition. Apparently you friend is clueless about what a carb is! GAH!

An example of how clueless people are: A few years ago when Dr Oz was all the rage with Oprah, she had a show about eating the You On a Diet way. She had a lady on there that was a DOCTOR and not just any doctor, a degree in nutrition! This woman went on the Dr Oz diet(read his book) and lost weight and it wasn't until she read Dr Oz telling people to not drink sodas because of the sugar that she realized not to drink sodas and once she finally stopped drinking sodas, she was able to lose the weight she couldn't lose before.GAH! That was the most annoying episode of Oprah EVER! My gosh, didn't the woman learn anything in MED SCHOOL? Did she need the Oprah show to teach her how to lose weight? Ridicious! So my point is, people really don't get the sodas are fattening! Even a nutritionist! HA!

I haven't read the replies, but this ban is idiotic. No offense or anything. lol

For one thing, it will be okay to carry beer in a cup over 16oz. But not a pop? What's wrong with this picture?

Mr. Bloom. needs to realize that sugar also comes in beer, hamburger buns, etc. So why not ban a limit on how many dogs or burgers we can eat? Or corn? Yes, the carbs are different but they have the exact same effect. You can get fat on corn just like you can with pop.

Basically it will be okay to ban over 16oz of pop, but a person can drink many many supersized cups of ALCOHOL?

If this bill passes, we're all in trouble.

I have to wonder if the idea behind this is to make people talk/think about nutrition.

Arkansas girl, I totally agree. They need home ec for boys and girls. And more than just one year of it.

They also need to reinstate manditory gym class. We had gym class 3 days a week. You HAD to take it, it was not an elective. You had to do all the presidential physical fitness tests. sit ups, pull ups, shuttle run, 600 yd. run, standing broad jump, etc.

We played softball, basketball, volleyball, line soccer, square dancing. And you got graded on it. You had to pass gym class to graduate.

Too damn many kids out there left to their own devices, no guidance, no discipline, no one to make sure they eat properly, get enough sleep, study, do their homework.....

We truly are turning into a fat, lazy, entitled, government depend country. And it's only getting worse.

We had mandatory gym, but only in 9th grade---for me that would have been 1951-1952. First part I loved, which was swimming---we had a great heated pool. The other 4 months was "gym", which I hated & managed to get out of via a doctor's excuse that I was "anemic", which I really wasn't. Otherwise never had anything resembling "gym" in years 1941 through 1955, though I went to both public & private schools.

However, my father, being a football, basketball & tennis coach (didn't like baseball/softball), heavily stressed exercise in our family so I guess my 4 months lapse in 9th grade gym didn't affect me. I've thought most people (kids and adults)have been exercise-lazy since the 1950ties compared to our family.

It seems to me that our legislators only want to legislate ways to eliminate our freedoms. Isn't that what most laws do??? They make it against the law to do something. Maybe we have enough laws!!!! I'll bet we have more laws AGAINST things than any other "free" nation. Cannot do this, cannot do that.....Geez! (not that I drink sugary drinks...only sugar free ones...it's the principle of the thing.)

I whole heartedly agree about gym class being mandatory. Mine was from 1st through 9th grade. My kids, who are in their late 20's was the same.

I think it's because schools are so poorly funded now they just don't have money for it.

When I was a kid I'd down Koolaid like crazy, but I played outdoors a lot too, and unfortunately most kids can't play in their front yards with their buddies anymore like we could. Times have really changed.

But don't tell me I can't have a 20 oz. pop by golly! lol

Why is it ok for the government to force kids to take P.E. (which I wholeheartedly agree with,) but not ok to ban giant cups of pop (I'm from Oregon,)? I see no difference, except that the latter is a money-maker for large businesses. I don't consider downing umpteen ounces of pop "a freeedom." No one's keeping you from downing 2 or 3 or 4 of the smaller size, if you want.

Well, sjerin, then we might as well ban everything that is bad for you in excess. Like you said, one can just consume
lots and lots of smaller sizes. There's no logic here.

I believe the logic is that many people will decide that a smaller size is good enough, thus over time consuming much less pop. We all pay the price for obesity and diabetes that is rampant in our country. Big picture.

Just when I think I have seen and heard it all, this happens. You can't stop people from eating what they want, they will just get refills or buy more.

Don't forget Krispy Kreme doughnuts! Better ban those, and family sized bags of chips too. It's just so dang stupid you have to laugh about it! Seriously this is the mentality of the people that are running this country these days! Very scary when you think about it like that isn't it?!

The larger size is more economical and easy to share, like at the movies. Smaller ones cost more and are usually mostly ice, so you really get ripped off per ounce. A huge factor in the cost of a soda is the packaging- the bottle or the cup and the lid and the straw, so having to buy several in order to get a big drink is bound to be very expensive. And then you aren't being "green", so soon they'll figure out a way to tax you for that, too.

In our paper today:

Here is a link that might be useful: Cartoon

Good Lord! What next? Telling us how many we can consume per week? Telling us which brands we must use?Wake up people. We are losing our rights at an alarming rate and people better open their eyes!

I agree with everyone who disagrees with the "nanny state". Even in big drinks, half is ice. I agree soda is bad. So are many things, but I don't believe in telling people what they can and cannot eat/drink. This is a precursor to government taking over our health care. If they do that, you can look for a lot more of this foolishness.