No fat people allowed: Only the slim will be allowed to dine in public!

[rebgirl420]

"It has actually happened. Lawmakers have proposed legislation that forbids restaurants and food establishments from serving food to anyone who is obese (as defined by the State). Under this bill, food establishments are to be monitored for compliance under the State Department of Health and violators will have their business permits revoked.

House Bill 282 was introduced in the 2008 Mississippi legislative session on Friday by Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr., a retired pharmaceutical salesman with DuPont-Merk. Its co-authors are Bobby Shows, a businessman, and John Read, a pharmacist.

The full text reads:

HOUSE BILL NO. 282


An act to prohibit certain food establishments from serving food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the state department of health; to direct the department to prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese and to provide those materials to the food establishments; to direct the department to monitor the food establishments for compliance with the provisions of this act; and for related purposes. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Mississippi:


SECTION 1.

(1) The provisions of this section shall apply to any food establishment that is required to obtain a permit from the State Department of Health under Section 41-3-15(4)(f), that operates primarily in an enclosed facility and that has five (5) or more seats for customers.

(2) Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor. The State Department of Health shall prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese, and shall provide those materials to all food establishments to which this section applies. A food establishment shall be entitled to rely on the criteria for obesity in those written materials when determining whether or not it is allowed to serve food to any person.

(3) The State Department of Health shall monitor the food establishments to which this section applies for compliance with the provisions of this section, and may revoke the permit of any food establishment that repeatedly violates the provisions of this section.


SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2008.


Should this pass, scales will appear at the door of restaurants, people with BMIs of 30 or higher wonâ??t be allowed to be served. And to comply with government regulations, restaurants will have to keep records of patrons' BMIs.

Is this a tongue-in-cheek bill, meant to point out how absurd the war on obesity has become? Or do lawmakers actually believe the myths that gluttony is the cause for obesity and that it is the governmentâ??s role to force people to eat and live how it deems best?

I called lead author, Rep. Mayhall, and asked if this was serious legislation or tongue-in-cheek to make a point. He kindly took a moment to answer my question while the legislature was in session. He said that while, regrettably, he doesnâ??t believe his bill will pass, this is serious. He wrote it, he said, because of the â??urgency of the obesity crisis and need for government action.â?� He hopes it will â??call attention to the serious problem of obesity and what it is costing the Medicare system.â?�

So, yes, this is for real and these elected officials actually believe this stuff.

The time is now for all Americans who value their freedom to eat, look, breathe and live their lives how they choose to unite!"

Junkfood Science: No fat people allowed: Only the slim will be allowed to dine in public!

So what do you all think about this?

rebgirl420 Reviewed by rebgirl420 on 02-05-2008. No fat people allowed: Only the slim will be allowed to dine in public! "It has actually happened. Lawmakers have proposed legislation that forbids restaurants and food establishments from serving food to anyone who is obese (as defined by the State). Under this bill, food establishments are to be monitored for compliance under the State Department of Health and violators will have their business permits revoked. House Bill 282 was introduced in the 2008 Mississippi legislative session on Friday by Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr., a retired pharmaceutical Rating: 5

[Purple Banana]

Wow... I think that's completely ridiculous; it's discrimination. What if they wanted a salad? What if they're in the process of losing weight? What the fuck?

What if they're not fat, but very muscley and dense? My friend's a body builder, he's in great shape, kind of short, but his BMI is about 28, he's that muscley. What about these people? BMI is not a very accurate measurement of someone's health! You can be on the heavy side, and be fit. What about people with hormonal disorders, like Cushings, or other cortisol-related disorders?

It'll never pass... And if it does? Just wow.

[SFGurrilla]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This should be under the, "where do you think America is headed" forum.

[rebgirl420]

Yeah it's an infringment on your personal rights. It will never pass.

[affasd]

weird haha.........i bet half the people voting on it ar fat so it probly wont pass

[birdgirl73]

Isn't that astonishing? I'm all for both the proper use of government and for an end to the obesity crisis, but that's stepping over into privacy and exercise of free will and beyond the bounds of where governmental power ought to go. With that proposed bill, is the lawmaker also planning to then provide those deemed-obese people with referrals and support into weight loss programs, to bariatric surgeons, jaw-wiring clinics, and to gyms? Of course not. Is he going to legislate the fat, portion size and calorie content of restaurant food? Nope. (There might be a better place to address the obesity epidemic, though.) I know for sure he's not going to do something more constructive like educating restaurant staffs in preparing foods with healthier oils, lower sodium, and more nutritious food or providing more far-reaching nutritional information, diabetes prevention, or weight loss education. And he wouldn't for an instant consider certain types of tax credits for restaurants or food suppliers that exercise restraint in what they're serving to the public. THAT would be a real way of incenting change and yet leaving personal freedoms in place.

Mississippi is one of the states with the worst obesity problem in the U.S. if I remember what I read in a recent public health article correctly. It's also one of the states with the greatest poverty problem. (Poverty and obesity are often close companions, and that problem will likely get worse. Research is increasingly finding that poor folks can't afford the most nutritious, healthy foods.) I think everyone will have to attack that problem together, from parents to teachers to schools to doctors to restaurants, but I don't think that particular legislation is the key.

Thanks for sharing that, Reb. Very interesting.

[rebgirl420]

weird haha.........i bet half the people voting on it ar fat so it probly wont pass

Very true, most political men are definately NOT in the best shape.....unless you consider round a shape. Just look at Ted Kennedy .



And thanks hun

[thcbongman]

The same logic is applied with smoking bans in restaurants and bars.

It's absolute discrimination. Decisions like this should be based on market conditions.

[SFGurrilla]

The same logic is applied with smoking bans in restaurants and bars.

It's absolute discrimination. Decisions like this should be based on market conditions.

I wouldn't say that. They stopped that from second hand smoke, I cant stand that smell when I eat food.

[thcbongman]

I wouldn't say that. They stopped that from second hand smoke, I cant stand that smell when I eat food.

Oooh, I bet you were one of those that were glad when the smoking ban went into effect!

It's the same concept, regulating restaurants to prevent them from contributing to the damage of it's citzens. It's about regulating citizens health. Bars and restaurants should decide themselves whether smoking should be allowed or not, based on demand. It's unfair to ban smoking in a place where smokers frequent for health reasons citizens choose to inflict upon themselves.