obesity

Regulation of the Day 71: Waistlines

by Ryan Young on November 12, 2009

in Culture, Health and Illness, International, Nanny State, Personal Liberty, Regulation, Regulation of the Day, Zeitgeist

In Japan, it is illegal for men to have a waist larger than 33.5 inches. The limit for women is 35.4 inches. Those in violation are forced to undergo counseling (Hat tip to CEI colleague Megan McLaughlin).

The law, passed last year, is part of an effort to keep obesity rates low and avoid related health problems.

One problem with using wasitlines as the primary metric is that results can vary among measurers. According to one article, “Satoru Yamada, a doctor at Kitasato Institute Hospital in Tokyo, published a study two years ago in which several doctors measured the waist of the same person. Their results varied by as much as 7.8 centimeters.”

That’s almost ten percent of the average waistline. It is sad that Japanese regulators have a strong enough nanny-state streak to legislate allowable physical dimensions. But the lack of precision in enforcing their edict must be maddening for the people involved.

Slate’s William Saletan vs. the Food Cops

by Ivan Osorio on September 23, 2009

in Healthcare, Nanny State, Personal Liberty, Regulation, Zeitgeist

Slate’s William Saletan has had it with the growing overreach of the food police, a reaction which he acknowledges puts him in unusual company.

For a long time, the only discernible libertarian around here was Jack Shafer, a man unable to wean himself from speech, guns, and other annoying constitutional amendments. But lately, other folks seem to be getting a bit Ayn Randy. On Saturday, Jacob Weisberg blew the whistle on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg for trying to ban outdoor smoking in public parks (“First They Came for the Marlboros“). Yesterday, Daniel Engber went after the hypocrisy and overreaching of soda-tax advocates. And I’ve become such a knee-jerk defender of burgers and fries that I’m tempted to seek funding from the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

What’s going on here? Most of us used to be good liberals. Are we getting conservative in our old age?

I’d say it’s the opposite. We’re what we were five or 10 years ago: skeptics and fact-mongers with a bias for personal freedom. It’s the left that’s turning conservative. Well, not conservative, but pushy

Of course, we appreciate the cite. However, while we don’t expect everyone who supports one — or  some — of our positions to agree with us on all matters, the sentiment behind Saletan’s reaction is well placed.

Reason’s Katherine Mangu-Ward comments on Saletan’s article here.

For more on nanny state regulation, see here.

Big Macs a Health Food? Man Eats 23,000 Big Macs

by Hans Bader on September 11, 2008

in Economy, Legal, Personal Liberty, Politics as Usual, Precaution & Risk, Sanctimony

Don Gorske, a Wisconsin corrections officer, is in “good shape” after eating 23,000 Big Macs.  He has, however, cut down on his consumption of french fries, which have a higher fat ratio than hamburgers.  I lost ten pounds while working at McDonald’s, and eating lots of Big Macs and Quarter Pounders.  A Richmond man lost 86 pounds.  Soso Whaley also lost weight on a McDonalds’ diet.  McDonald’s food is no fattier than many more expensive restaurants’.   But that hasn’t stopped trial lawyers from suing McDonalds and blaming it for their clients being fat.  Nor has it stopped the Los Angeles City Council from practicing “Food Apartheid,” by banning new fast food joints in predominantly-minority South-Central L.A.  The City cites the putative health care costs of obesity.  But the net effect of banning fast-food restaurants may be to increase obesity by increasing purchases on fatty and sugary packaged-foods from convenience stores.

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