Sugary Drinks Persuasive Essay

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.

There have been many health related bans put in place throughout history, but none have been as controversial as NYC Mayor, Michael Bloombergs soda ban. Mayor Bloomberg is trying to put into ordinance a regulation that will limit the size of drink cups in restaurants, sporting arenas, movie theaters, and food carts. This ban is controversial because New Yorkers feel like the mayor is trying to control them and take away their choices. They feel that he shouldn’t get a say in how much of a sugary drink they consume, even though they can still buy the same amount as before if they buy two cups instead of one. However, this regulation is going to affect public health in a positive way, because it’s going to make people stop and think before they

The mayor of New York city is arguing a ban to decrease obesity and increase good health. This ban may be good for some people of New York City, but not for its

Although some may think the soda ban should be place, there are many downsides to placing the soda ban. The soda ban should not be put in place because it was decided by the mayor, it is inconsistently implemented to institutions that the city oversees, and it is not the best way to regulate people’s health. To begin with, the soda ban should not be placed because it was not voted on. Mayor Bloomberg decided to enforce this law on his own. According to the text “Soda’s a Problem but…” by Karin Klein, the author states, “Bloomberg essentially made this decision himself” (Klein, 288).

He even said himself, "The evidence strongly supports a relationship between sweet drinks and obesity." If evidence is truly so strong why don't we, as Americans try to change these statistics? That is because we are comfortable. Obesity is such a common health problem now a days, we fail to realize that it IS in fact a health issue, a very dangerous one. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg challenges the city of New York to step out of their comfort zone and acknowledge this growing health problem that has so seemingly became a tradition in America. But like I said we are comfortable, and nobody likes to get up and make something happen when they are comfortable. But with all the effort you're putting in to fight this ban don't you see that Bloomberg is just trying to help us. The amount of deaths caused alone by obesity is devastating. Especially when a change as simple as going on a diet and cutting vast amounts of soda out of our lives can effectively decrease the amount of these deaths. Nobody wants to have their free will taken away. After all that is what America stands for. And a choice in what we put into our own bodies should be our choice right? Yes of course! And Mayor Bloomberg is not taking away that

That’s what life’s all about?” (Stone, 287). In 2012, the Mayor of New York made a ridiculous law to restrict soda over the size of sixteen ounces. The choice of what size of soda a person could chose won't be an option anymore. Although, the soda ban can limit the exponentially growing rate of obesity it is unjust to the people of America because it limits freedom, lacks real restriction and opens doors to other prohibiting laws.

Every second we lose someone to a one of the most dangerous killers in America; obesity. To tackle our obsession with food, it has been proposed that our government should start to regulate the type and amount of food we eat. This has received shock waves of controversy from our US citizens to whether or not it's even constitutional to set regulations on such items. Sadly, this unnatural obsession with sugar, salt, and fat has landed us on the list of one of the fattest countries in the world. These bans and regulations might cause us to lose a very small bit of our constitutional freedom, but based on the proposals, the health of our country is well worth it.

In the article, “What You Eat is Your Business,” senior writer and investigative reporter, Radley Balko, argues obesity is a personal and individual responsibility and should not be regulated through the government since that violates our freedoms and rights. Balko states the government’s regulations in preventing obesity, such as, removing junk food in school vending machines, more detailed food labels, and forcing the food industry to be more responsible in their behavior towards the health issues of consumers. Many politicians agree with banning of unhealthy snacks and sodas from school vending machines, in addition, calling for a fat tax on unhealthy, high calorie foods. According to Balko, this is the wrong way to fight obesity, he continues,

Most people think that obesity is a choice well, the New York City Health Department doesn’t think so. As of Thursday, the New York Health Department became the first in the nation to ban the sale of sugared beverages larger than 16oz. at restaurants, mobile food carts, sports arenas and movie theaters (Park). The New York Health Department feels that they need to start to make a change against how people have their diets so people aren’t as lazy and have more motivation. This is important, because if people have more motivation to do certain activities such as cleaning, playing with their children, going out of the house, as long with much more that they cannot do as an obese person. As people can see, most people who are active and eat healthy have a good life style and tend to live longer as well. This ban against sugared beverages would prevent retailers who sell prepared food from also dispensing sugared beverages.

The government has cut back soda in New York to only allowing us to buy 16 Oz drinks. The government says that there is know reason to be drinking more than that. I don't disagree but soda is not the only issue that is making America fat.The government blames the soda for Americas weight gain.

In early 2013, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City attempted to regulate health by proposing the Portion Cap Rule. This rule banned all food services within city limits from selling sugary drinks with a quantity of 16 ounces or more. Although this proposal was approved by the Board of Health unanimously, the New York Supreme Court rejected it, stating that this regulation was outside of their delegated authority. There is not a clearly defined boundary for where the government can and cannot interfere with the personal lives of the general public. When considering health, the placement of this boundary is often called into question. The responsibility for public health lies with both the government and the individual, as the government

According to livestrong.com in 2015, “Drinking large amounts of soda may affect your brain health and alter your risk of certain diseases. Naturopathic physician Scott Olson says that several scientific studies suggest that a high sugar diet may increase your risk of schizophrenia, depression and anxiety,” (Adams, “Can Food Cause Chemical Imbalance in the Brain”). Sugar in soda can advance to permanent long-term damage to the brain. Additionally, the sugar in a person’s body can increase blood pressure and dilate pupils. While, this evidence had been scientifically proven precisely there are still people who don’t see the ethics in the soda ban. That’s why a state judge ruled against it. According to BusinessInsider.com in 2010, “A New York state judge struck down Mayor Bloomberg's controversial ban on large sodas on Monday, arguing that the restrictions on sugary sweetened drinks did not make sense, partly because the ban wasn't evenly enforced.” (Spector, “New Yorkers Will Be Significantly Fatter Because Of The Soda Ban Repeal”). Although the judge thinks the ban is inefficient he is inaccurate, the restrictions on the ban are based on scientific evidence. The ban will still make sense, even though it does not include diet sodas and fruit juices. Everybody knows fruit juice and diet sodas are better for people

It is not ok for the government to regulate convenience foods, if they do riots will happen and millions will lose jobs. Also, our economy will drop instantly and won’t go back up. Junk food and soda companies make up a lot of our economy. To add on, it won’t help obesity because sometimes it's genetic.

Obesity rates are rising steadily and aren’t dropping anytime soon unless someone takes a stand and puts a stop to it. That is what the government is attempting. The weight of a person depends on a person’s own opinion, but not many people are caring about themselves. The reason behind this epidemic are all the sugary drinks, all the unhealthy foods, and the rising prices on healthy foods. Taxing sugary drinks would be a good step to a first attempt at preventing obesity. Think about all the people who would second guess buying the unhealthy drinks, making it better to prevent the purchase of sugary, unhealthy drinks.

Due to the increasing rates of obesity, the large-drink ban was initiated. It is believed that by restricting people’s access to huge amounts of sugary drinks, it will reduce how much sugar/calorie intake one has. This policy will prevent the selling of any sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces. Even though, there’s a greater chance of finding a more successful alternative policy than simply banning large drinks.