Diet Industry Supports Mayor Bloomberg's Proposal to Limit Oversized Beverages

One week before the Board of Health is scheduled to vote on Mayor Bloomberg's proposal to limit the sizes of oversized drinks, Weight Watchers and other diet companies, including The South Beach Diet, Jenny Craig and Bob Greene of The Best Life Diet, are supporting the proposal.

I have previously blogged on The Huffington Post about my support for the proposal and also testified at the hearing in July.

As reported in the New York Times, David Burwick, the president of Weight Watchers North America, said, "There's been a lot of hand-wringing about obesity but very little action."

As reported in Metro NY, Mayor Bloomberg said "As the size of sugary drinks has grown, so have our waistlines, and so have diabetes and heart disease." And Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley added: "In a city with large sizes of high-calorie snack foods and beverages at your fingertips around the clock, it is no wonder many New Yorkers struggle to maintain a healthy weight."

I could not agree more!

Here are five good reasons:

1. Portion sizes have exploded in recent years.

2. Large portions contain more calories than small portions.

3. Large portions encourage us to eat more.

4. Large portions encourage us to underestimate how much we are eating.

5. Sugary sweetened beverages are empty calories and have no nutrition benefits to offer.

The Board of Health is scheduled to vote on the ban Thursday, Sept. 13, and it would go into effect six months after, on March 13.

Stay tuned!

Your thoughts?

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