Education.

And mom and dad have to start being part of the solution and not part of the problem.

But we need to do something. 

  Information and education is all we need to do. What  people do with it is up to them.

They screw up and we have to pay? No way to avoid some of that  in society. We pay for all kinds of nonsense people do, without even knowing about it.

Jun 5, 2012 -- 5:52PM, mytmouse57 wrote:

Jun 5, 2012 -- 5:43PM, Erey wrote:

Well Mytmouse if you really believe that then you should just ban ALL sugary drinks, all sodas.  Because if you are blaming the disabled young people with poor health on food choices then ban all problematic food choices.  French fries, chips, candy bars, etc.  Just ban them if having access to problematic food is the reason.

But it is not the reason, that is the problem.  Big Gulps are not the reason anyone is disabled at the age of 35.  We all make a series of choices and we live with them.  How often and how much soda we drink, do we exercise, how much, do we smoke, do we strive to maintain a positive additude, do we endeavor to eat a ballanced diet.    Again, If I could forsee a significant percentage of the population having a marked improvement with the absense of the very large sodas then I might say it is worth throwing together new laws that are restrictive of freedom and liberty.  But I don't.

For the record, if I felt compelled to do something about obesity I would instead formulate a witty and catchy series of public service messages aimed at eschewing the supersize. 

I get your point, bans and turning the state into a helicopter mom won't solve the problem. 

But we need to do something. 

Something?  How much obesity should we tolerate without "doing something".    The way I see it we ARE doing something.  There is alot of education out there, you can't take 5 steps without being bombarded with articles describing what you might do to get healthy and what you might do to lose weight.

The problem is people view obesity in different ways.  Culturally there are different concepts of what is to have a weight problem.  People want to enjoy themselves, the dollar menu at McDonalds is a pretty cheap and immediate way to enjoy yourself. You don't even have to get out of your car!

Jun 5, 2012 -- 6:22PM, CharikIeia wrote:

Of course, doing things for the sake of doing them is normally not helping anybody.

However, to decry all deeds and actions as headlong, unreflected, or unsuccessful from the get-go -- by deriding the word combination "doing something" as morally reprehensible -- is not warranted at all.

But it's the social conservative's mantra since time immemorial.

Good point as well. 

But then, the question still stands.

At what point does "doing something" amount to the state becoming a helicopter mom?

Ebon, if Mommy and Daddy can't step up to the task of properly educating their children on what is right, moral, and healthy, then we are not only asking but DEMANDING that Big Brother Government take away all our choices and make Orwell's "1984" a reality.