Proposal to Ban Obese People From Restaurants

Sheesh talk about big brother that sucks can't see that going very far at all.

Obese people in MS have more to worry about then being banned from restaurants, more like that dying thing...

They'd be better off just banning fatting foods and empty calories from everywhere.

No friggin way!

Big brother, hello. How would this affect businesses, having to turn away customers?

Not to mention the bias. Obese people have to eat, too.

Wow. I can't believe this was even brought up. The government needs not to legislate personal choice. It only causes problems. How about setting up programs for education and reduced cost fitness programs? I'm a personal trainer; I'd accept a reduced government salary if I knew I was helping people who need it most. Probably far more effective, too. You can eat just as poorly at home as you can in a restaurant, if that's what you want to do.

Health care costs are going up and that obesity is a problem in America, but this is ridiculous. I am an overweight girl on pluscupid.com. We feel angry for this act. So from now on when the waitress hands out menus to everyone at the table the menus she gives to the fat customers will have to be blank inside?

Come to Canada, play hockey, no players are over weight - the best game in the world

This is just wrong. However, there are some people that I see when I eat at Golden Corral (or, as my husband calls it, Golden Trough) that probably do cause the place to lose money. I do think that I see the highest percentage of morbidly obese people at the all-you-can-eat places. I still don't think you should legislate who can and can't eat at restaurants though. Everyone's got to eat. What about obese people that are currently losing weight? Or people who just had gastric bypass? Even though they're obese, I'm pretty darn sure they aren't eating a whole lot at most restaurants.

Totalitarian aspects apart, it wouldn't work. They'd just go to the grocery store and load up on crap packaged food. You'd also have to outlaw their buying anything at grocery stores other than fruits and veggies, fresh meats and fish, and basic condiments and cooking ingredients. Then you'd need specially trained SWAT teams to mount assaults on homes that are reported to contain contraband food. There would be a black market where thin "pushers" would sell Little Debbies to the obese. The thin would get richer and the fat would get poorer. The fat would then mount a Marxist revolution and assemble in huge protests. Irate thin people would flip out and ram their cars into the fat protesters, and the gasoline would ignite them, producing billowing black smoke, which would cut off the sun and kill the dinosaurs. The world would end.

Wow. So 50 years ago black people weren't allowed to eat in restaurants with white people. Now fat people aren't allowed to eat in restaurants with skinny people. Gotta love Mississippi for it's civil rights record.

Casey said:
Wow. So 50 years ago black people weren't allowed to eat in restaurants with white people. Now fat people aren't allowed to eat in restaurants with skinny people. Gotta love Mississippi for it's civil rights record.[...]

No wonder MS is usually at the bottom of every list(fitness, education, etc...)

Proposed bills such as this knee-jerk "segregation" bill only mask the real problem, which is that many restaurants serve unhealthy food. Mississippi needs to instead introduce a bill that forbids restaurants from serving foods with high salt, saturated and trans fats, options without wheat or gluten in them, and reduce menu portions by half (and prices).

The biggest thing YOU can do when you go to a restaurant is to take a glass microwavable container with you, and as soon as your food arrives, before you even start eating, put half the serving in the glass container to take home. I lost 5 pounds this way, and I don't even go out to restaurants that much.

/Canadian view

This is similar to the existing laws which prohibit an establishment from selling alcohol to a person already intoxicated.

However, visible intoxication is indicative of a present state. The state of fat loss or gain cannot be so easily assessed.

It could be that the fat-body, visiting a restaurant, might be there to order a grilled-chicken salad. Or even that they are eating their weekly allotted cheat meal.

The technology does not exist to accurately assess the effects of this one meal on the person's overall rate of weight loss or gain.

Therefore, any appraisal is dissimilar to that of clear and present alcohol intoxication, and there is no precedence for such a law.

To ban the obese from eating at restaurants could be based on the presumption that over-consuming restaurant food will cause obesity. Yet, this is not necessarily true.

In other words: Stupid legislation, and it will fail.

Hmm, so 66% of the population is obese. So in other words, 66% of the population will be banned from restaurant? Yeah, I'm sure the restaurant industry in MS will *love* that idea.

This kind of stupid stuff is proposed all the time, and anyone who worries about it is worried over nothing. It's not going to go anywhere. Chill.

Stuff like this REALLY annoys me! Makes you question the mentality (or lack of) of those in power! Sort it out!

Sounds like our legislators have too much time on their hands. Maybe if they had to work for a living they wouldn't spend so much time intruding into our lives!

Oh...my...God...! They can't be serious!

Even though this is one of those pieces of legislation designed not to pass but to spark discussion, it's still ridiculous. If anything, the road to weight loss cannot involve shame from outside sources. People won't lose weight because you make them feel like second class citizens. If shame were a workable tool, everyone in the States would be thin by now!

That's stupid and cruel of whoever even suggested such a thing. Government has the power to change the world, but you can't go around just banning things and making decrees.

Instead, why don't they pass legislation to encourage stores and restaurants to sell healthier foods - less fats, more reasonable portions, organic products, vegetables? Or legislate transparency laws. Make the restaurants put the calorie/fat count right on the menu so you can see if you're about to take down 4000 calories. We have labels for food at the stores, why not the restaurants?

Promote programs that help people get nutritional advice, or promote a culture change when it comes to socializing. Many people in the south equate having fun with family to eating and drinking.

Sidewalks, parks, community centers with fitness equipment and child-care could go a long way toward helping everyone be healthier. Zoning laws that encourage creating "neighborhoods" where you can walk to the store from your house would encourage exercise and reduce the amount you use your car.

Longer term, work to promote the economy and improve the educational system, and you'd have a happy, healthy, wealthy community. Problem solved.

How about spending money on educating people how to eat healthy...might be nice to treat the source of the problem...than putting a band aid on a broken leg.

Never teh Bride said:
Even though this is one of those pieces of legislation designed not to pass but to spark discussion, it's still ridiculous. If anything, the road to weight loss cannot involve shame from outside sources. People won't lose weight because you make them feel like second class citizens. If shame were a workable tool, everyone in the States would be thi[...]

Exactly right!

Sounds like something from The Onion!

How about a fat tax? Make it progressive, X% of your income for X% over-fat. Take away the money with which they buy food, and a person is bound to get thinner.

Luxury taxes have been around for years. Just have all people submit to Bod Pod or calipers once a year, like checking car emissions.

When a fat person gets sick, they put a strain on society as much as if their car was emitting excess toxins. Time for a check-up.

If the once-a-year bod-pod test is subsidized, I could go along with that.

Surely, this bill was introduced to draw attention to the health problems associated with obesity and was not a serious attempt to ban people from restaurants because of their weight. However, no matter what the motivation, introducing the bill was a tasteless action.

Though the motive is right, I am not sure if this bill is the way. Targeting obese people is not going to make them feel better and many people who are obese stay home and overeat there because they already feel like people are judging them. Obesity is a mental and physical disease so we do want to make sure that people are not allowed to kill themselves. Serving obese people huge platters of fried food is like giving drugs to a drug addict or alcohol to an alcoholic. (I can say this because I have family members who are obese and that is what they order in restaurants). However, serving huge platters to anybody is wrong, too. It hurts to see loved ones eating enormous amounts of food (especially if they have diabetes or heart problems). I think that restaurants should not be allowed to serve platters that are over 1000 calories. I think the bill is extreme, but all the lawmakers want to do is to make sure that people make it to their 45th birthday.

Kailash said:
How about a fat tax? Make it progressive, X% of your income for X% over-fat. Take away the money with which they buy food, and a person is bound to get thinner.[...]

Newsflash: Healthy food tends to be a lot more expensive than the processed junk food that makes people fat. Many people are fat because they don't have enough money for healthy food and can only afford crap.

I believe in keeping fit. But it is not the role of government to restrict who can eat where or what a person may eat. The trouble is that people believe that the government has the right to do things like this. We are slowly losing our freedoms.

OK, this is absolutely ridiculous. It's discrimination. If a place cannot refuse service based on ethnicity,gender, or sexuality, should they really be able to prohibit someone from receiving service due to their weight?

I personally believe FAST FOOD restaurants should pass this throughout the U.S.
Anyone visibly obese should not be served..this should not be a technical issue. I am 192 pounds. 5'11" and I am considered overweight, and I am fit.

If you have a bubble in front of you, you shall not be served a big mac!

With this insane thinking I could retort with a belief that politicians who think like this should be shot and killed based on the 2nd amendment.

Anthony said:
I personally believe FAST FOOD restaurants should pass this throughout the U.S. Anyone visibly obese should not be served..this should not be a technical issue. I am 192 pounds. 5'11" and I am considered overweight, and I am fit.[...]

I think you should stop reading altogether the works of Hitler, Stalin and Lenin.

Our founding fathers shed their blood to keep people with such stupid thoughts to become reality.

It's people like you who have no clue about the history of this nation and the prices paid for others to be free.

It's really hard to be kind to people when they post stupid statements.

Anthony said:
I personally believe FAST FOOD restaurants should pass this throughout the U.S. Anyone visibly obese should not be served..

I've been through towns where there's nothing but fast food. Even healthy eaters eat stuff from fast food occasionally, and maybe some of their stuff isn't so bad.

If the government is so concerned, they should work on a better version of the Farm Bill, so that healthy fruits and veggies aren't so expensive, and shitty food so cheap. Oh, even better-stop building so much automobile infrastructure. Remember sidewalks? Streets safe enough for bicycles? That's what our government should be working on.

Obviously this bill was written to prove a point, however faulty. It will never pass, so let it go.

tre paul said:
I think that restaurants should not be allowed to serve platters that are over 1000 calories[...]

I disagree. While I'd love to see chain restaurants post nutritional information for all of their food, I don't think there should be a limit on the number of calories served. I weigh 120 pounds and even I occasionally order baby back ribs, nachos and the like at restaurants. And when I do, I guarantee you I am consuming more than 1000 calories. And who's to tell me I can't? It's about moderation. All restaurants can do is provide the knowledge--people have to decide if and how they'll use it. Regulating calorie content isn't going to magically provide common sense to those who have none.

As far as restaurants that don't follow an exact recipe, posting accurate nutritional information is not feasible. Most gourmet chefs don't measure out ingredients--they just have a feel for when it's right. If you're concerned, then grill the waiters; ask that it's made without extra oil, or extra salt. Take responsibility for your own health. I, for one, certainly wouldn't put mine in the government's hands.

ayse76 said:
an exact recipe, posting accurate nutritional information is not feasible. Most gourmet chefs don't measure out ingredients--they just have a feel for when it's right. If you're concerned, then grill the waiters; ask that it's made without extra oil, or extra salt. Take responsibility for your own health. I, for one, certainly wouldn't put mine in the government's hands.[...]

I also disagree. I can think of a few times when I did a hard effort in the morning that took quite a few hours (say, a 85 mile bike ride followed by 15 mile run.) Those nights, my saving grace was going out to restaurants for a "treat" meal or else it was hard to get in the number of Calories I needed to replace and be up for more training in the coming days. There's nothing wrong with meals, period. Even if you aren't very active, one "excess" meal on rare occasion is not going to really hurt you. Then there's people who would eat different Caloric levels. My DH can LOSE weight on 3000 Calories a day, for example, despite not having an exercise regimen anywhere near mine... Should the restaurant give us all a basal metabolic test and then give us a percentage, while we are requesting businesses to go against what their customer base wants, anyways?
I want restaurants to provide nutritional information. Absolute bans on almost anything (I might except trans-fats) are ridiculous. And I never feel it's the government's place. I use my dollar to decide what business practices to reward and that's the best and smoothest way to get companies to listen.

Talk about civil, and human rights; well this sounds like we stepped back in time. We (the US government) hollars about other countrys and their faults concerning human dignity. I think that Mississippi should rethink their proposed law, to even think of something like this is total harrassment of all the people that are fighting to change their lives in any way. What about others with other bad habits. We need understanding and help and encouragement. Yes, I am one of those that you would like to screen. I am trying desperately to chance my body size. How about offering instead savory, juicy protein and healthy vegetables and fruit. Protein is a hunger blocker. Fruits and Vegetables in reasonable amounts are good choices. It is the amounts we eat that are our problems. Old habits die hard. Remember our parents saying "Clean your plate before desert". Well serve reasonable portions and allow for more choices on the childrens menue. It is better to order child size portions but usually there is Chicken (Breaded) Spegitti or fried cheese sticks. Really healthy, huh. Change that not restrict us. After all the restrurants did have a small part in our problem. Lawmakers, wake up and smell the Bacon. Your job just may be on the line.

If you look into it a little bit you will see that obesity and type 2 diabetes both started a rapid rise in America when the food industry started switching out High Fructose Corn Syrup in prepared foods and drinks for sugar. It was a switch rooted in profits, since the corn syrup is cheaper than sugar, but it turns out that it's a switch that is slowly killing us and raising medical and healthcare costs in the process.

It works just like tobacco does. Everyone knows it slowly kills you, but it brings in tax revenue, expands many other business sectors which brings in more tax revenue, and no politicians are likely going to vote to reduce revenue even if it improves the quality of life for their constituants. If they really want to make a legislated difference they should create a law that phases out High Fructose Corn Syrup and Saturated Fats from our food supplies.

I think that the people of Mississippi should be more concerned with making laws to ban idiots from serving in government jobs. What's next? Fat people have to ride in the back of the bus in Mississippi?

this bill is needed. it's time that obese people got the message. with all the statewide bans latley, i'm the most happiest with this one.

I saw the guy who proposed this bill on the CBS Morning Show today and he himself is obese. It's probably a publicity stunt to try and make himself known for a future political run of some kind.

This is government at its worst. It sounds more like communism to me!