Sugary Drinks And Obesity Research Paper

As an attempt to reduce the rising obesity and obesity-related disease rates, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City has proposed a ban on soft drinks larger than 16 oz. According to an infographic created by the Huffington Post, extra large soft drinks have accounted for an average of 301 extra calories in people’s diets across the US. Although measures need to be put into place to improve the unhealthy diets and lifestyles of many Americans, a ban on large soft drinks is not the solution. The ban on soda would be an ineffective attempt at reducing obesity and obesity-related diseases, as well as an infringement of civil liberties and an attack on businesses in New York City.

Did you know that drinking sugary drinks is actually a smaller cause of obesity than genetics? Although the state of New York has tried to instate a ban on soda, they have not been successful. The soda ban of New York has not been a success because people would find a way around the ban. Also the ban would cost the state more money than it has to spend.

Their advertisement proclaimed that all they wanted to do was “protect their Freedom of Choice.” “This is New York City; no one tells us what neighborhood to live in or what team to root for,” says the narrator, as Yankees and Mets fans shout in the background. (Grynbaum, 2012). Since May 30 when Bloomberg wanted to ban the sale of soft drinks over 16 ounces in regulated food establishments such as movie theaters and sport arenas. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, recommended there be a federal study linking together sugary beverages and obesity. “The talking points are ‘Nanny State,’ that it won’t work, because people will just buy as much as they ever would, and that this disproportionately hurts the poor,” said Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. (Grynbaum, 2012). People that are not middle or low class would buy as much soda as they wanted and the rest of the people would be stuck with whatever drink is leftover. The lower class minority groups seem to always get the shorter end of the stick and in most cases unless a big group of them get together their voices will not be heard. The mayor or the city council should not have the right to tell you what size soda to drink or what kind of soda to drink; We live in The United States of America and there is no law that says anything about a specific size or flavor of soda so until that day comes nobody should

In New York City the mayor is trying to ban sugary sodas to decrease the amount of obesity. Two-thirds of adults in New York are overweight, 40% of elementary and middle school students fight obesity. Is this because of the intake of sugary sodas or is it the lack of self control? "Liz Berman, the coalition's chairwoman" states "We are smart enough to make our own decision about what to eat and drink."

According to the WHO (World Health Organization) the health of the people in the United States has not always been the greatest. With an obesity rate of 33.9 percent, which translates into over 106 million obese Americans, this has caused many problems to arise and impact the daily lives of Americans. Many have tried to help in regards to this issue by improving school foods or attempting to encourage more physical activity. Unfortunately, these may have helped but only in a small scale. However, a fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists, Mark Bittman believes that he may have a definitive solution. On May 25, 2016, in “Taxing Sugar to Fund a City” New York Times food journalist, Mark Bittman, by using the taxing of sugary beverages in Philadelphia - America’s poorest big city - earnestly

1999). Sugar plays a huge role in the growing obesity levels. The largest source of added sugar in the US diet is sugary drinks. A recent study found that body weight significantly lowered when sugar intake was decreased. While an increased sugar intake led to a similar weight gain. This study also found that children whom consumed sugary drinks had a 55% higher risk of obesity (Hu, 2013). The progression of obesity, added sugar being a main cause, and the billions of US dollars being spent on obesity related healthcare; I believe this act will be supported by the public.

Sugary drinks and fast foods are constantly being consumed by Americans, causing an increase in health problems. Government regulation of what we eat and drink is fair because it will increase awareness of what individuals eat and can prevent higher rates of obesity. The article by Ryan Jaslow, "Sugary drinks over 16-ounces banned in New York City, Board of Health Votes" clearly supports the banning. However, “Should the Government Regulate What We Eat?" argues that the ban puts the American values of freedom at risk. Such regulations are necessary in order to maintain a healthy environment.

Question 2 – This infographic relates to Nadia Arumugam’s claim that, if not anything else, this ban may teach us about the importance of “portion control”. In her article she quotes Thomas Hardy and according to him the reduction of the consumption of sugary drinks from 20 to 16 ounces “every other week” will help New Yorkers avoid gaining about 2.3 million pounds a year. One of the problems is that people don’t realize the actual amount of unhealthy products they consume in a longer period of time.

Other people think that it is the government’s problem to fix obesity. Although the government’s efforts have been provided, they have been lackluster and ineffective through society. The government has implemented such organizations such as the ABA to regulate beverages in schools to make for a better lunch. They try to regulate beverages in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and even times of day they can and can’t be sold (Source A). This is ineffective because this just causes people to bring in their own unhealthy drinks, and more likely more of them then needed because they can’t buy them in school.

Many store owners might argue that if they ban super-sized soda drinks they will be receiving less money because the bigger the drink the more it costs; however, the health of the U.S citizens is much more important because the more they consume those sugary foods and

With a growing epidemic of obesity in America, some states and lawmakers have resorted to taking unconventional measures in order to counter the growing issue. Many legislators are debating the effectiveness of a “fat tax” would be on limiting the consumption of soda, high fat foods, and high sugar foods, and ultimately reducing the rate of morbidity and mortality due to obesity. The idea is that long term consumption of high fat, high sugar foods and drinks lead to many health problems, so making them more expensive and less accessible should decrease the health issues related to their consumption.

What if tomorrow’s news headline read, “U.S. GOVERNMENT BANS THE SALE OF KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS?” How would the country react? According to a study released by the National Center for Health Statistics (2008), “32.7% of American adults were overweight…an additional 34.3% were obese, and that 5.9% were extremely obese” (McGuinness 43). Americans are overweight and obesity is the cause of tens of thousands of preventable deaths in the nation each year (McGuinness 42). The nation is suffering a public health crisis due to overconsumption of nutritionally void food and beverages where “unhealthy eating and sedentary living has become the societal norm” (McGuinness 46). Some believe that the government should intervene by regulating American’s diets; however, others maintain that government intervention would set a dangerous precedent by undermining individual freedoms. Allowing the government to intervene is a slippery slope and could potentially lead to more intrusive actions (“Slippery Slope” 1). Instead of abrogating personal choice the government should re-evaluate the support it gives to institutions that contribute to the obesity epidemic.

Because of prevailing junk food, the next generation of Americans will struggle with obesity and diabetes more than any other. Thus, one of the culprits is the sugar-filled sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages, like sports drinks or sweet-teas. At this point, Legislators in California are trying to emblazon sodas with a warning label that looks similar to the alert on cigarette packages or alcohol bottles. They believed that all beverages with more than 75 calories of added sugar in a 12 oz. will contribute to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. Legislators’ intention is positive to protect people, however, their statement has no support by any research institutes.

Should government have the freedom to limit its citizens’ freedom? The answer is yes but the question is how much and for what reasons. The ban on large sugary drinks – more than 16 ounce- at food service establishments proposed by The New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg sparked a heated debate over this question. Proponents of the ban justified it by citing studies which showed excessive amount of sugar causes obesity and has many other serious negative effects on health. They argued that such consequences have negative effect for the whole society, in form of additional health care and social welfare cost. Opponents of the ban argued that it imposes an unjustified and unnecessary limit on personal freedom, does not reach the intended goal of limiting obesity, and sets precedent for excessive government overreach. Both sides have strong arguments, I am inclined to side with the opponents of the ban mainly because I am wary of unnecessary government overreach but I am on the border and ready to change my opinion in future.

It has been shown that the increase of obesity in children has been directly linked to the increase of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. Sugar-sweetened drinks are thought as to be worse than junk food because they do not satisfy hunger or thirst. Children who drink more sugar-sweetened drinks may increase their intake of other foods and drinks, consequently increasing their total caloric intake and gaining weight at the same time. It has been shown in some studies that children who consume more sugar-sweetened drinks gain more weight, although some studies prove otherwise. To see if there is truly a link between the two, the study I chose aimed to research how weight gain changes when sugar-sweetened drinks are replaced with artificially sweetened, noncaloric drinks.