At the last hearing by the Legislature on the issue of vending machines in schools, Maine’s Department of Education agreed to promulgate a first-in-the-nation policy: Requiring minimum health standards for all vending products 24 hours a day, seven days a week at all schools.

This is a victory for freedom of choice. Don’t think so?

Count the vending machine buttons within a mile radius of a local high school. You’ll find overwhelming amounts of soda buttons at convenience stores, big box stores and gas stations, but it’s very hard to find non-fat milk or 100 percent juice.

Maine Coca-Cola leader, Oakley Jones, deserves real credit for supporting this healthy policy, as does the governor’s administration in Augusta.

Though some representing the soda industry who were present when this agreement was reached may have reversed their position, we must believe those who negotiated in good faith will continue to do so.

There’s an important new commission, lead by Rep. Margaret Craven, that is working to address the problem of obesity in the state. But take a moment to ponder the long history of government promotion of obesity, which we must overcome.

John Kennedy gave a famous speech 40 years ago calling for the Civil Rights Act. What if, instead, he had called for America to become the most overweight, out-of-shape nation in history? No more effective plan could have been offered than what government actually did:

1) Subsidize oil companies and cars to the detriment of the trails and sidewalks so prevalent in other nations;

2) Make it impractical for busy Americans to get basic information about their food in chain restaurants;

3) Give large corporations free reign to advertise to our children, so that four out of five child-advertising dollars promote high calorie products;

4) Under-fund public education so taxpayer-funded schools become marketing tools for the soda and snack food industries;

5) Direct billions in subsidies toward processed foods (e.g. high fructose corn syrup), while neglecting fresh produce;

6) Promote high calorie foods in programs for poor people (e.g. food stamps).

For decades, government has, inadvertently, promoted obesity, interfering with our freedom to make healthy choices for ourselves and our children. Government obesity promotion must stop.

American transportation policy restricts freedom of choice. In Kennedy’s time, more than 60 percent of children walked or biked to school; due in part to decades of a car-promoting policies and planning, only 13 percent do so now.

Packaged food has been labeled in some form since Roosevelt’s administration. In Kennedy’s era, less than 20 percent of the American food dollar was spent in restaurants. Today, almost half of those food dollars are spent outside the home, but the restaurant industry opposes caloric information in menus. We know more about our lawn mowers than we do about almost half the food we consume.

Some Scandinavian nations prohibit advertising targeting young children who lack the skepticism warranted for corporate marketing. Contrastingly, our government in the 1970s declared open season on child-targeted advertising, mostly for high calorie products.

Vending machines are ubiquitous, yet try to vend a 100 percent juice, or fruits, vegetables or whole grains. Meanwhile, the sugar industry pressured the United States Department of Agriculture to weaken dietary recommendations to limit consumption of added sugars.

Maine leads the nation on this one issue, but it will take many steps to complete the journey to health.

In Maine, more than 20 public health groups united to promote personal freedom in state law, rejecting government’s pro-obesity policies. Maine residents are organizing for freedom of choice with this legislative proposal:

1) Guarantee freedom from exploitation in public schools by promoting only healthy choices in vending machines. So far so good. Schools libraries promote education, so should the cafeteria. You won’t find Sports Illustrated’s Swim Suit issue in schools. You shouldn’t find soda either. If you want to buy soda or the Swim Suit issue, kid, it’s a free country: Take your allowance to the store.

2) Dedicate one percent of gas taxes to human-powered transportation so that all residents (not just those who can afford treadmills and gyms) can enjoy healthy options, such as well-maintained trails and sidewalks;

3) Guarantee every person freedom of information to see calories listed on major chain restaurant menus – costing big chains nothing and empowering people to take personal responsibility for themselves and their children;

4) Protect our children for corporate greed by prohibiting the use of public schools as corporate advertising tools.

Obesity costs almost a $1 billion in health care costs in Maine alone. More importantly, being overweight causes agony, especially for our youth.

Doctors changed the name of obesity-triggered “Adult-Onset Diabetes” because so many young people now develop this horrible disease. Government obesity promotion has lead to epidemics of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

The big restaurant chains already provide caloric information on Web sites. (They know few people bring laptops with a wireless to Olive Garden). Informing consumers on the menu – not merely on obscure Web sites and posters – will thwart lawsuits, not encourage them. Informed consumers can’t bring lawsuits, but informed consumers do make informed choices. This is exactly what has the industry worried.

In a recent poll commissioned by the Harvard School of Public Health, 59 percent of Americans want freedom from promotion of sugary products in our school vending machines, 59 percent favor freedom from exploitative advertising directed at children, 62 percent want caloric information on the menus of restaurant chains and 76 percent favor taxes on items like soda if proceeds are directed toward children’s health and related costs of ill health.

If Americans oppose government’s long-standing promotion of obesity and support individual freedom, the epidemic of overweight will decrease. More importantly, state by state, we will see that individual rights, not corporate power, are still the foundation of this republic.

Sean Faircloth is a member of the Maine House of Representatives and prime sponsor of a first-in-the nation legislative proposal addressing Maine’s epidemic of overweight.

Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., is professor and chair of Psychology and director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, Yale University.

David S. Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D., is assistant professor at the Harvard Medical School and director of the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children’s Hospital Boston.

Copy the Story Link