The F$$d P$lice are C$ming

[BVS]

When Wendy's and others start to offer salads, wraps and diet sodas... that's a for-profit corporation responding to market demands.

When a government official bans sodas of a certain size, Happy Meals or Ding Dongs & Twinkies in the school lunch room... that's the food police.

But both are doing it to look out for themselves. Wendy's does it to increase their profits. Governments do it to try and decrease the burden that obesity will have on the tax dollars for decades to come. You're a health provider so you should know the burden that obesity is putting on the industry as a whole. Private insurance companies are scrambling to find ways to charge the obese more or deny them insurance, that's been happening now for about a decade, because they realized that it was too much of a loss for them.

 

[Jive Turkey]

When a government official bans sodas of a certain size, Happy Meals or Ding Dongs & Twinkies in the school lunch room... that's the food police.

Are ding dongs and twinkies just banned from being sold in the lunch room or can kids not even bring in their own?

 

[INDY500]

Health panel talks about wider food ban - New York News | New York Breaking News | NYC Headlines

Health panel talks about wider food ban


At the meeting, some of the members of board said they should be considering other limits on high-calorie foods.

One member, Bruce Vladeck, thinks limiting the sizes for movie theater popcorn should be considered.

"The popcorn isn't a whole lot better than the soda," Vladeck said.

Another board member thinks milk drinks should fall under the size limits.

"There are certainly milkshakes and milk-coffee beverages that have monstrous amounts of calories," said board member Dr. Joel Forman.

And certain New York City Board of Health members demonstrate monstrous amounts of stupidity and elitism.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I think everyone should carry around an eye dropper and drink out of that

 

[anitram]

And certain New York City Board of Health members demonstrate monstrous amounts of stupidity and elitism.

As a side note, I really wish we, as a society, would take a closer look at dairy, the dairy lobby, and the absurdity of having it mandated on the food pyramid.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

The breastfeeding police are coming too


New York Post Updated: Sun., Jul. 29, 2012, 11:38 AM
Mayor Bloomberg pushing NYC hospitals to hide baby formula so more new moms will breast-feed

By MARY KAY LINGE

Last Updated: 11:38 AM, July 29, 2012

The nanny state is going after moms.

Mayor Bloomberg is pushing hospitals to hide their baby formula behind locked doors so more new mothers will breast-feed.

Starting Sept. 3, the city will keep tabs on the number of bottles that participating hospitals stock and use — the most restrictive pro-breast-milk program in the nation.

Under the city Health Department’s voluntary Latch On NYC initiative, 27 of the city’s 40 hospitals have also agreed to give up swag bags sporting formula-company logos, toss out formula-branded tchotchkes like lanyards and mugs, and document a medical reason for every bottle that a newborn receives.

While breast-feeding activists applaud the move, bottle-feeding moms are bristling at the latest lactation lecture.

“If they put pressure on me, I would get annoyed,” said Lynn Sidnam, a Staten Island mother of two formula-fed girls, ages 4 months and 9 years. “It’s for me to choose.”

Under Latch On NYC, new mothers who want formula won’t be denied it, but hospitals will keep infant formula in out-of-the-way secure storerooms or in locked boxes like those used to dispense and track medications.

With each bottle a mother requests and receives, she’ll also get a talking-to. Staffers will explain why she should offer the breast instead.

“It’s the patient’s choice,” said Allison Walsh, of Beth Israel Medical Center. “But it’s our job to educate them on the best option.”

Lisa Paladino, of Staten Island University Hospital, said: “The key to getting more moms to breast-feed is making the formula less accessible. This way, the RN has to sign out the formula like any other medication. The nurse’s aide can’t just go grab another bottle.”

Some of the hospitals already operate under the formula lockdown.

“New York City is definitely ahead of the curve,” said Eileen DiFrisco, of NYU Langone Medical Center, where the breast-feeding rate has surged from 39 to 68 percent under the program.

Breast-feeding in the first weeks gives a baby a critical healthy start, many medical experts say. It helps the digestive system develop and protects the baby with the mother’s immunities. Nursing also helps the mother recover from childbirth.

But not everyone is convinced.

“They make formula for a reason, and the FDA makes sure it’s safe,” said Roxanne Schmidt, whose 14-month-old twins were fed with formula from birth. “Locking it up is just wrong.”

Read more: Mayor Bloomberg pushing NYC hospitals to hide baby formula so more new mothers will breast-feed - NYPOST.com

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

With each bottle a mother requests and receives, she’ll also get a talking-to.

that's fucking ridiculous. for starters, though it says later in the article it'll be signed out like medication, it isn't medication. it's food. breastfeeding is best but it isn't always an option for every mom. to have to deal with a demeaning lecture on why they shouldn't bottle-feed every time they dare to try to feed their baby is over the top.

i'd like to think this would get shut down and while they'd encourage moms to breastfeed while in the hospital, there wouldn't be guilt trips if they didn't, i don't think that'll be the case. there's a small number of people (usually attachment parents) who seem to think those that use formula are evil and purposely depriving their kids of the stuff breastmilk has that formula just doesn't. i'd bet if anyone speaks out and states how there's nothing inherently wrong with bottle feeding it'll just get shot down.

maybe i sound bitter for someone who doesn't even have kids yet, but i tire of these parents who just because something worked for them, it's set in stone that it works for everyone and every baby. if that were the case, there'd be one definitive parenting book to follow and doctors wouldn't find new evidence that maybe this thing or that thing should be done differently or whatever.

when i was a baby the pendulum had swung back from using formula to if you were a good mommy who cared about your baby, you'd breastfeed. well, my mom tried. it made me colicy and as soon as she switched to formula, the colic went away. should she have just stayed the course and ensured we both got fuck all sleep until i was weaned because breastmilk is better?

 

[Pearl]

This is getting ridiculous. I don't know what Bloomberg is thinking, but he is getting out of control.

If a new mother wants to bottle feed her baby, that's her decision! Why try to make her feel guilty about her choice? Like the article says, if the FDA approves, what gives? Formula is not poison or overly fattening. And I think in the case of twins or other multiple births, formula would be downright logical. A woman is not a cow.

I can't help but wonder what's next - deciding for us which toilet paper to use?

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

And I think in the case of twins or other multiple births, formula would be downright logical. A woman is not a cow.

that's a great point. especially if it's even more - can you imagine one woman breastfeeding septuplets? would she be expected to hire a wet nurse instead of using formula? give me a break!

i'm all for the government helping to inspire people to make healthier food choices, but it's not like formula has the nutritional equivalent of a hamburger, while breastmilk is a plate of vegetables. whichever option the mom wants to make is her choice, not the hospital's.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

This is getting ridiculous. I don't know what Bloomberg is thinking, but he is getting out of control.

If a new mother wants to bottle feed her baby, that's her decision! Why try to make her feel guilty about her choice? Like the article says, if the FDA approves, what gives? Formula is not poison or overly fattening. And I think in the case of twins or other multiple births, formula would be downright logical. A woman is not a cow.

I can't help but wonder what's next - deciding for us which toilet paper to use?

I agree-woman's decision what is best for her and her baby, not a man. Unless it's the man you are with and he decides with you.

Why make women feel guilty? Because some people make a living, make an industry, make a freaking daily habit out of that.

I don't get Bloomberg's attitude about the freedoms of Chick Fil A (not that I disagree with that, I agree with it) vs the freedoms of women's choice in feeding a baby, or getting a big drink, whatever.

 

[yolland]

Maybe try getting paid maternity leave laws in place before making assumptions about what new mothers actually have time and space to do, eh.

 

[anitram]

Breastfeeding advocates have become incredibly militant in the last decade. It's like we took the near-universal formula feedings of the 60s and 70s and reversed it 180 without ever thinking of a reasonable compromise.

I have one friend whose son nearly died at birth of a congenital defect. 60% of babies that are diagnosed with the defect die within the first week of life or so. They were extremely lucky that he was diagnosed after about 10 hours, and that he was in a major urban centre with one of the top 3 children's hospitals in North America. He is doing great now, almost a year later, but it was very tough, with many nights spent in the NICU, and he will need regular monitoring for the first 18 years of his life. In any event, obviously he was not breastfed in the beginning - he was not fed at all aside from nutrition received intravenously as he was intubated for maybe 2 weeks or so. When he finally became able to digest, the surgeon insisted at formula because they needed to know exactly how much nutrition he was getting - both the volume and the nutritional value. After a while he could be switched to breast milk, but again only if fed by a bottle so that volume could be monitored and controlled. The breastfeeding specialist advised my friend that this is "just surgeon talk" and that doctors push formula because they get kickbacks, etc. My friend elected to take the surgeon's advice, following which the breastfeeding specialist told her that she would not help her try to teach him how to breastfeed later if it became possible. She made her feel terrible, and as if a nearly-dying baby wasn't already enough to deal with.

Another friend of mine had a daughter who was suffered from primary lactose intolerance (ie. severe reaction from birth) and was stagnating and then losing weight until 6 weeks of age when they moved her to lactose-free formula and she started thriving. My friend has had people make obnoxious comments to her in Starbucks, or on park benches or in the mall when they saw her feeding a very young baby with a bottle. Just total lack of consideration for the person's particular situation, and no sense that they should mind their own business.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Just total lack of consideration for the person's particular situation, and no sense that they should mind their own business.

Way too many people with that mindset. Ugh.

Such awful stories, anitram. You raise good points-sometimes there are situations where a woman has to use the less popular method, health issues and such, that should be taken into consideration. And any specialist worth their salt shouldn't be saying that they'll refuse to help you if you dare deviate at all from their plan a bit. People who work in healthcare shouldn't be refusing patients help. I don't know when it was decided that was an acceptable behavior.

I was bottle-fed as a baby. So was my sister. We seem to have turned out fine. If a woman wants to breastfeed, let her. If she wants to use bottles, let her. It's not society's decision to make for her, so shut up and leave her alone.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Breastfeeding advocates have become incredibly militant in the last decade.

I'm not even a mother and that drives me crazy. I think it might be part of an overall militant mother type of thing. Like I'm the best mother in the world and I feel some obsessive need to demonstrate that to you by forcing all of this on you and making you feel inferior. Apart from people like Bloomberg, I think it's just sad and wrong for women to do that to each other.

My friend has had people make obnoxious comments to her in Starbucks, or on park benches or in the mall when they saw her feeding a very young baby with a bottle. Just total lack of consideration for the person's particular situation, and no sense that they should mind their own business.

If they knew her story I hope they'd feel like absolute shit. I can't believe people feel free to do something like that. We really have lost all boundaries.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I'm not even a mother and that drives me crazy. I think it might be part of an overall militant mother type of thing. Like I'm the best mother in the world and I feel some obsessive need to demonstrate that to you by forcing all of this on you and making you feel inferior.

Ugh, yes, this. That drives me up the wall, too.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

wcvb.com


Doctor refuses to treat overweight Shrewsbury patient
Worcester doctor said woman weighed over 200 pounds

UPDATED 6:30 PM EDT Aug 24, 2012
SHREWSBURY, Mass. -

Ida Davidson is the first to admit her weight goes up and down, but the Shrewsbury resident said she was stunned when a new primary care physician said she could not become a patient because she weighed more than 200 pounds.

"I can't believe and I did say that out loud, 'I can't believe you guys just said that to me.' I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life," Davidson said.

Davidson said she is a "little overweight." The incident on Wednesday occurred during a second visit to Dr. Helen M. Carter at the doctor's Worcester office.

Davidson said she believes, "I may be high risk for her and too much work is what I felt."

She said Carter focused on weight.

According to Davidson, "She's like, 'You gained weight, are your feet swollen, are your feet swollen?' I said 'No.' She was really obsessed about the whole thing and me being in her office and she didn't want to care for me."

Carter told NewsCenter 5 it's a matter of "self preservation for herself and her employees."

"After three consecutive injuries (with other patients) trying to care for people over 250 pounds, my office is unable to accommodate a certain weight and we put a limit on it," Carter said.

The policy may be unusual, but it is not illegal.

The American Medical Association's Council on Ethics and Judicial Affairs policy reads "Both patients and physicians should be able to exercise freedom in whom to enter into a patient-physician relationship ... physicians do not give up their freedom of association by merely becoming professionals."

Davidson said her situation was not handled with compassion, adding, "She didn't care about my health that day. I think she just cared that I was a liability to her and maybe too much work."

Carter said she "doesn't consider it discriminatory," adding that patients have alternatives. She said she spends a lot of time educating patients, "It's not so much your weight, it's the morbidity."

Davidson has vowed to find a new doctor.

 

[ladyfreckles]

I don't see a problem with that considering all the liability involved. It's not like other doctors don't exist. The woman is a lot more than "a little overweight" if you look at her pictures and her weight in pounds--unless she's over six foot 200lbs is not normal or a little overweight. She went to see a doctor, didn't like what the doctor had to say.. and is now challenging the doctor? I just don't get that. There are much better facilities in the area she can go to.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Available only at Target

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

New York Soda Ban

By Jill Colvin, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

NEW YORK CITY — Say goodbye to venti Frappuccinos, gallon movie theater slurpees and big sodas.

The city's Board of Health approved Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on large sugar-sweetened drinks at its monthly meeting Thursday morning. Nine members voted for it, and one abstained.

Under the plan, all restaurants, fast-food joints, delis, movie theaters, sports stadiums and even food carts will be barred from selling sugar-sweetened drinks in cups larger than 16 ounces.

The limits will not apply to drinks sold in grocery stores, diet sodas, drinks that are more than 70-percent fruit juice, or that contain alcohol.

 

[Pearl]

I'm sure some people will just buy more than one bottle or cup, if that's allowed.

Really, I'm not too thrilled about this, even though I don't drink too much soda or sugary drinks. I understand obesity is a problem, and it's disgusting to see obese people not care about their weight or their health. But do we really need a nanny state to solve the problem?

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I'm sure some people will just buy more than one bottle or cup, if that's allowed.

If you try to do that they sew your lips together

Yes you can do that, so what's the point? I guess they think it's symbolic, has some sort of psychological effect. If people want to drink that much they'll find a way.

 

[Pearl]

Come to think of it, this is the new prohibition, in a sense.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

It just makes me roll my eyes, considering the way people drink alcoholic beverages at sporting events, concerts, etc. That also causes obesity, let alone other health problems.

 

[PhilsFan]

The mayor of a city is not the one to wage a war on health issues in this country. The war needs to be waged against, you guessed it, the major corporations who deceive people, who are allowed to be irresponsible with no consequence, who are allowed to value the dollar and only the dollar.

 

[Pearl]

Also, what about high fructose corn syrup? That's practically in everything now. Isn't that stuff worse than basic sugar?

 

[digitize]

Also, what about high fructose corn syrup? That's practically in everything now. Isn't that stuff worse than basic sugar?

I'm sure HFCS ia classified as sugar for these purposes.

Solution to this problem: buy a super-uber-enormous-mega-giga-hyper-godzilla-bonosego-sized Coke, and put a small (or not small) amount of your spirit of choice in it.

 

[Pearl]

Solution to this problem: buy a super-uber-enormous-mega-giga-hyper-godzilla-bonosego-sized Coke

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Solution to this problem: buy a super-uber-enormous-mega-giga-hyper-godzilla-bonosego-sized Coke, and put a small (or not small) amount of your spirit of choice in it.

I kind of want to use the phrase "bonosego-sized" the next time I go and order a drink from somewhere now .

 

[digitize]

I kind of want to use the phrase "bonosego-sized" the next time I go and order a drink from somewhere now .

A frighteningly large number of people would have no problem understanding what you meant.

 

[the iron horse]

Kids! Hide that bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

I heard today a few schools in California are
confiscating such dire contraband.

Schools consider Flamin’ Hot Cheetos ban over ‘health hazard’