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Boston's long-time mayor, Thomas M. Menino just made quenching the thirst of city-workers that much harder. According to The Boston Globe, Menino issued an executive order to phase out sugary drinks from all city property in an effort to curb rising obesity rates. So long non-diet sodas. Adios sweet tea. Arrivederci you sexy sports drinks, you.
City departments have six months to phase out the sinister sugary beverages in cafeterias, vending machines, concession stands and during city-run meetings. And just in case parched public workers aren't quite sure what constitutes a healthy beverage, the Boston Public Health Commission is applying the familiar red, yellow and green labels to drinks, and reinforced by nearby posters that say, "Stop. Rethink Your Drink. Go On Green."
According to a release from the Mayor's office, "red" beverages include non-diet sodas, sweetened ice teas, sports drinks, etc. Diet sodas and diet iced teas, 100 percent fruit juices and low calorie sports drinks qualify as "yellow" beverages, while "green" drinks mean bottled water, low fat milk or unsweetened soy milk. Mmmm. Unsweetened soy milk -- yum.
Boston's not alone in trying to combat obesity through mandated choices. Cities like San Francisco, San Antonio, Los Angeles County and New York City have also set standards to limit or prohibit the sale or distribution of unhealthy food -- including sugary drinks.
There's some proof this type of food policing works. Two years after the Boston Public Schools removed soda and unhealthy snacks from vending machines, data showed that overall consumption of sugary drinks decreased significantly.
Dr. Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, said in the long term, the policy will decrease healthcare costs for Boston and will positively impact productivity.
Soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages account for up to 10 percent of total calories consumed in the U.S. diet, and are known to be major contributors to obesity. According to Ferrer's office, about 63 percent of black adults, 51 percent of Latino adults and 49 percent of white adult Boston residents are considered overweight or obese. What it boils down to is health care costs.
"Economists estimate that medical costs for an obese patient are about 42 percent higher a year than for a patient with a healthy weight," said Dr. Ferrer in the city's press release.
Which makes us wonder what's next? A ban on smokeless tobacco at Fenway? Doh! Wait...
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4-09-2011 @6:01PM Zebrahead said... J.E.B. It appears that you are not understanding the article either. The mayor is not prohiting Boston's residents from drinking anything. He is only prohibiting sales of high-sugar beverages on City property and not allowing it at meetings on city property.
4-09-2011 @5:51PM Prinni said... Come little sheeple follow the white house BS. Here's some reality. A bag of store brand chips and a 12 pack of soda are cheaper than a bag of oranges. Two bags of store brand chips or cookies are cheaper than a head of Romain lettuce. A package of off brand hot dogs is cheaper than 1 lb of tomatos. If they are lucky Mom & Dad are working. Kids are in front of a game machine or the computer. Dinner is Hamburger Helper or a frozen Banquet meal. Bagged white rice can now be nuked in 90 seconds. Real brown rice takes a min. of 25 minutes. Frozen meat balls can be dumped into a can of spag sauce and heated for less than10 min and poured over white pasta and on the table in 20 min. So, cash strapped or time strapped and kids parked inside instead of out running and playing and burning calories is what is causing obesity. Seen a kid pushing a mower lately? Raking leaves? Helping clean house or do laundry? Come on. Open your eyes. Non activity and poor but sometimes necessary food choices is causing obesity. Not soda. Try and buy a month's worth of food for two people on $200 a month. See what your food choices are now. Especially when one of the two is a teenage boy. Next they will tell you how, when and if you can have sex. Lot of people have heart attacks during this activity so we better control that too eh? Gotta keep those medical costs down.
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4-10-2011 @2:34PM rose said... Your post is much too long. I took one look at it and thought well hell, i'm not reading all that shiit You need to come up for air. rose young-stewart
4-09-2011 @6:00PM Keith said... Another example the government trying to run everyones personal life. How about this; try enacting some real laws too curb the unethical conduct of public servants who foolishly spend taxpayer money with little or no restraint. As for me, stay out of my kitchen!!!!!! I don't need the government telling me what I can or cannot eat. After all, I am an ADULT!!!!!!!
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4-13-2011 @1:47AM Claude said... Your "adults" consume high fructose corn syrup and trans fat not knowing that it accumulates in the body no matter how many miles you jog, which disrupts the normal production and digestion of insulin and has other toxic side affects, which causes diabetes and obesity, which causes heart disease, which affects nearly 20 million Americans, which is our #1 killer, all of which is happening to younger and younger age groups, faster and faster, which is causing our health care costs and insurance to skyrocket, which is causing our Medicare funding obligations to skyrocket, which is helping cause our budget deficit, which is causing your "adults" to blame the government and demand they do something about it, which is causing the government to do something about it by removing the toxins, which is causing your "adults" to blame the government for interfering, which ...
Get it?
4-09-2011 @10:21PM anna said... this is an uninformed decision in the fact that diet soda contains aspertane which according to poison control kills brain cells, induces nervous system disorders, can effect heart rhythms and stimulates agressive behavior... rethink what people are telling you ..... do your own research
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4-09-2011 @6:26PM jjletsgo said... I'll bet if the city were collecting SALES TAX on all those demon beverages it wants to stop selling, the tide would turn.
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4-09-2011 @6:34PM kletus said... I could hardly get through this whole article after drinking my sugar soda
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4-09-2011 @7:03PM Angela said... There is no reason for some people to breathe either. This is the land of the free...home of the brave. Or is it...land of the do what your government tells you because it is someones opinion that it is good for us, and home of the I'll only be brave if I get paid? I do not care if it is bad for you. It is about the freedom to choose. Adults can choose to over eat, over drink, over indulge, and their children are each persons responsibility. Not everyone would agree with the way that Benjamin Franklin's parents raised him, but he became a curious man who discovered a way to harness electricity, and everyone benefits from this. If his parents had any type of restrictions that prevented them from raising him the way that they did, he might not have become the inventor that he was. You'd still be in the dark about a lot of things! If America is going to continue to restrict things based on what is best for us, they are going to find people rebelling. ANYTHING in excess can be bad for you, you can OD on water, oxygen, and yes sugar. The key is not telling people what they can or cannot do, but provide them with knowledge and power to make the choices that will benefit their lives in the way that THEY want to live. New Hampshire says it best...LIVE FREE OR DIE!
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4-09-2011 @6:38PM leo said... jane, it's none of your damn buisness or anyone else's what I drink
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4-09-2011 @7:05PM katbeem said... I agree that sugary drinks are not healthy if used in excess, however, the scarey part is the loss of individual freedom. Who thought it would come to being told what we can and can't drink or eat? I find it so hard to believe that we will sit by and let our elected officials dictate to us like that. This is pure dictatorship and socialism at its best.
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4-09-2011 @7:05PM katbeem said... I agree that sugary drinks are not healthy if used in excess, however, the scarey part is the loss of individual freedom. Who thought it would come to being told what we can and can't drink or eat? I find it so hard to believe that we will sit by and let our elected officials dictate to us like that. This is pure dictatorship and socialism at its best.
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4-09-2011 @7:06PM Jeff said... I didn't know the mayor of Boston, or any other gov't agancy, had the right to tell another person what they should or should not be drinking or eating. IMO, the mayor should take a long walk off a short pier.
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4-09-2011 @7:04PM Phil said... I am sick of the politicians taking away our freedoms! WHY America are we sitting idly by while our freedoms are slowly being whittled away it the name of the better good. Mandate wearing seatbelts (while a good idea, should be a personal choice), tell me I have to buy health insurance and now tell us what we can and cannot eat?? It is getting time for a people's revolution.... I'm sure this comment will get me on some watch list somewhere....!
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4-09-2011 @10:29PM ZAN said... I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU. IF SOMEONE BANS A SODA FOR YOU TODAY THEN TOMORROW THEY WILL TRY TO TAKE SOMETHING ELSE AWAY. DON'T DARE TRY TO TAKE OUR GUNS. PEOPLE NEED TO TAKE THIS COUNTRY BACK!
4-09-2011 @7:07PM JimC said... Any way you look at it, what we have is a group of liberals telling the population that they know what is best and everyone else needs to have their lives managed by them. The regular citizen is too uninformed and intellectually incapable of making decisions for themselves.
What a bunch of arrogant so and so's. Have you seen the mayor? Who establishes his menu's? Aren't you getting tired of allowing these dolts to dictate how everyone lives?
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4-09-2011 @7:07PM red said... Some cause. That is not going to end the obesity problem. The city workers could go to a fast food place or a restaurant and have a soda. They should do what the federal government does for federal workers. Challenge them to be physically fit. Exercise and moderation is the key if you don't have any medical problems that keep you from losing weight like underactive or no thyroids for example. There are other medical conditions also.
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4-09-2011 @7:18PM Zebrahead said... Why is red's comment one of the only comments in this thread which indicate that he or she has read the article? Red confines the comment to City of Boston employees, not to Bostonians or the general public.
4-09-2011 @7:17PM harold said... Thomas M. Menino Is in nead of castration.
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4-09-2011 @7:17PM Dee said... What's next? Fenway Park? I can hear it now. CULD WATER HERE!, VEGGIE CUPS HERE!
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