13 Contributors
in this discussion.
A poor diet is much like smoking, whereas chronic diseases may develop over time from products that go into our body. Tobacco products contain the Surgeon General's warning (government involvement), but people are still free to make their own choice. Therefore, why not something similar in regards to our diets?
The government is fighting a new war, and it's called obesity. It drains money to care for the increased diabetic population, increased cardiovascular problems, to build new structures to bear the weight of the obese population: bigger hospital beds/scanners, bigger seats, access ramps everywhere for whose are unable to walk because they can't carry their own weight. It is the duty of the government to protect its people and to fight this war.
Because
because its not really what you eat but how you eat that can determain that. For some people, you can eat really healthy foods but a large amount, and that alone could be unhealthy.
The government does simply not have the right to tell people what they may or may not consume in their diets. Even if this interference has noble intentions, it is still an infringement of basic rights. The government may, of course, inform the public about certain foods or recommend certain diets. But, the ultimate choice must be left to the people.
People should be allowed to make there own decsions in what they eat.Some food is unhealthy and can cause future problems but you are your own indviual and you chose your life.the goverment already controls alot why give them more power.You should make your own healthy decsions for yoursel
They should display signs that say the facts, Like McDonald will clog your little gentle baby heart, so be safe. Or maybe like You kill and murder all these little chickens for your chicken nuggets and there actually sad when you do it, so have a brain don't act insane. or how about look to the person next to you (pause) do they have a weight problem, and then spew off some facts about dying a sad painful death from eating to much Americanised cheap, plastic, toy food. Or maybe we can leave it like it is and let the ad companies make you feel like its your choice to eat absolutely the nastiest food you can think of, simply to make a profit of your stupidity.
What if we want to be fat. What if we want to be skinny. What does the government have a say in.
When the government takes a proactive role in helping all Americans receive healthcare at a cost that won't bankrupt them, then it can have a say in how we take care of ourselves. It doesn't make sense for the government to allow us to smoke tobacco until our brains dry up or drink alcohol, the deadliest drug available to man, but then try to regulate how we eat.
Unless the government is going to deliver precooked food and hand out the money to buy the healthier food with, they should have no say in what people eat. Good healthy fruits and vegetables cost a lot of money. More than that, a person would have to be able to shop almost once or twice a week to have fresh vegetables in their diet. Very few working families have that kind of time or money. It only gets worse when you consider the prep time to make a real meal versus something instant. Not everyone is eating fast food because they love it. They eat it because it is all they can afford to spend their time and money on.
If the government were to get involved in our diets what is to say where they stop at? Are they going to tell us what to eat and when to eat it? We are a free society and it should not be the government's decision or involvement in telling us what to eat or how we should diet.
It is the right of every citizen in this nation to eat unhealthy foods if they so choose. Just because obesity is a big problem in this nation, it doesn't mean our government should be able to step in and tell all of us what we can and can't eat. There are two main factors. One, eating healthy or unhealthy is not the sole cause of obesity, because inactivity plays a huge part also. Two, what's healthy and unhealthy changes on an almost daily basis. Who exactly is going to decide what we can and can't eat? Would it change every time new findings are made by some research group? What it boils down to is that our government needs to only promote eating right and living an active lifestyle.
Our diets should be governed by our common sense, not the government. Our government has more important issues to worry about, such as our defense program, immigration, and world issues. If we allow the government to tell us what we can and cannot eat, we are setting ourselves up for enslavement. Do you really want someone to tell you what you can eat, when you can eat, and how often you can eat?