The government is correct when saying that there is an obesity problem in America. And this problem is because of the food people choose to eat. Americans have the right to decide what goes into their mouths and what doesn’t. It’s a simple part of one’s freedom and because of this freedom; the government shouldn’t ban foods or place higher taxes on them. The government shouldn’t have to keep people healthy because the people can control it themselves. The government should try alternate ways to keep people healthy.

A person’s health is based off of how much they eat, what they eat, and when they eat. Everybody’s health varies based on their diet, metabolism, and amount of exercise. The government would need to control all of these factors on a single individual in a country with 300 million people. But each person is different. Some people can work off a large meal quicker than others. This would require the government to spend money just to make sure Americans don’t turn into bowling balls.

The government is drowning in debt already and it won’t do them any good to dig themselves into a deeper hole. Going through with this sort of plan all to impose a simple law that the people can control would be too much.

In John Stossel’s “Food Nannies” segment from his T.V. special “Myths, Lies, and Complete Stupidity,” he explains how the Danish government tried to step in and control people’s health and weight by imposing high taxes on junk food and other food products that were deemed unhealthy. But within a year, they repealed the tax because it was so ineffective. Forty-eight percent of people just bought stuff from their neighboring countries and brought it back to Denmark which impacted the country’s GDP. Working just like prohibition, it’s difficult to enforce. If the American government did something like imposing high taxes on junk foods we would likely have the same result.

A good question to ask is what will become of food? In Stossel’s video, he does a brief taste test with two types of donuts. He provided a portion with the normal ingredients and another portion with the unhealthy ingredients removed. When eaten by random people, the healthier donuts had no taste or flavors ultimately making most people choose the unhealthier type. The government will not only take tasteful things away, but they will also make food less enjoyable. Fast food restaurants and food making companies will have to go through a rebuilding process to change their menus and food production which will all add up to a large sum of cash.

There are other ways that the government could deal with obesity issues. Implementing exercise programs like NFL’s play 60, mandatory running programs during school, and more gym classes could help prevent childhood obesity and set good examples for future generations. Another possibility would be to reduce the number of fast food restaurants in the U.S. a little because there seem to be too many around.
The public’s well being is a topic that the government should keep their hands off of and take it off their worry list. As Americans, we have a right to decide what goes into our mouths and what kind of choices we make for ourselves. There are other things the government should worry about. And food habits don’t fall into that category.