Professor Malcolm Law, a leading nutritionist in Britain, proposed a solution to obesity increasingly prevalent among children. As with most health professionals who are given a public platform in this country his proposal reflected the spirit of our statist age. Faced with evidence that Britons are fatter than ever and that increasing numbers of children are classified as clinically obese, he argued that politicians should seize the initiative and force food and drink manufacturers to reduce the size of products.
Professor Law believes that nothing less than an end to the ’20 per cent extra free’ culture will stave off the kind of nationwide obesity which in recent years has swept across America. He pointed to a study carried out last year which revealed that diners who ate a large meal at one sitting felt no more hungry after eating a smaller portion – if the plate was full, in most the cases the diner felt satisfied with their meal.
“Forty years ago the Government forced the tobacco companies to reduce the tar content of their cigarettes in the interests of public health. A similar approach needs to be taken today with ice creams, chocolate bars and other products.”
Note the language that our learned friend uses: “If we don’t cut down on the size of our portions we will find that in future we have a much higher incidence of obesity and heart disease. There is likely to be a large public health impact.”
This is the kind of attitude that has kept the NHS (Britain’s National Health Service) in place and indeed as long it exists the ‘public health impact’ will always be an argument for the health fascists. As long as the taxpayers are required to cover the cost of the consequences of other people’s actions, that is, a state-funded health system having to pick up the bill for the treatment of diseases associated with obesity, the ‘statist’ wolves in ‘public health’ clothing can make demands on the government to control our eating (drinking, smoking, living etc) habits.
And we know that the state is not your friend.
The alternative statist solution is to take fat children, or those who show fat tendencies (as determined by a social worker who’s done a day’s nutrition training), into the care of the state.
Does this ‘Prof.’ Law think depriving all kids of chocolate will make it easier on kids who’re already teased for being fat? Jerk!
It’s also rather sick, coming as it does after a well-publicised case of starving a child to death. The state failed there, big time.
While stipulating that the state should not mandate serving size/amount, I have to say I wish that the snaks in my local convenience stroe were not all in extra lardass size. Of course I no longer consume those snacks, but my annoyance remains.
That is me as an annoying, complaining consumer, not anything else.
Yeah, I really hate the way that shopkeepers run out of their shops and hold me down while an assistant crams King-size Mars Bars down my throat.
Control of portions is certainly the only method that could possibly work (not that I’m supporting it – I think it’s an awful idea). Such a tiny proportion of people’s income goes on food these days that truly swingeing price increases would be needed to materially affect consumption (demand is relatively inelastic at current price levels). Of course that would effectively be a massively regressive tax on the less well-off.
What a stupid scheme (portion size control), McDreadfuls portions are small, you just buy more.
I would prefer to see low-fat, healthy 24 hour ration packs handed out instead of dole money.
damn i hate these people! this article nails the heart of the issue on the very first line: SELF OWNERSHIP.
Gobshites statists like this Prof Law hate the idea that people OWN their own bodies outright and absolutely and it is none of their fucking business what we do with them. These arrogant “experts” find it intolerable that we refuse to allow THEM some say in OUR private lives and so want to use the state to MAKE us treat their opinions as more important than our own.
If Law tries to use The Law to decide what I put in MY body, maybe I should stick something sharp and pointy into HIS body.
I would like to write to Professor Law, can you please inform me of his adddress?