Obesity Impeached

Two years ago, California became the first state in the US to ban the sale of soft drinks in elementary and middle schools by legislation, and two days back, a bill was introduced to make even high schools fall in line. Who did it and why? Well, it was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s obvious concern for fitness that led him to continue his fight for obesity. Arnold wants to chuck out obesity from every Californian pupil. And backing him is the director of Nutritional policy, busy chalking out policies to bolt obesity out of the system. In fact, cafeterias with their marketing sensibilities neglected public interest since long. These moves have proved terminators of the first order, which could have nipped the obesity epidemic in the bud itself. Anyway, one hopes, it’s not too late to act, especially because a bill to raise nutritional standards of schoolmeal programmes is already in the offing, which is sure to terminate this epidemic forever. At the same time, marketing policies of the cafeterias also need close monitoring, as more than half of their sales comes from the sale of soft drinks. Here, the initiatives of parents and teachers will go a long way in regulating the eating habits of the children. So, will Gov. Arnold’s next bill try to strike a balance between marketing policies and public interest?