Should the government regulate choices that impact our health?
I was just reviewing the results of a The Harris Poll. The Harris Poll is administered by Harris Interactive. Harris Interactive is a leading custom market research firm that works with a variety of industries, including health care, technology, public affairs, energy, and telecommunications.
The poll I reviewed is focused on how American’s feel about legislation to regulate healthy living, such as taxes of sugar sweetened beverages or the banning of smoking in restaurants.
This particular Harris Poll included 2,211 United States adults over the age of 18-years-old. The poll was conducted between February 27-29, 2012.
I’m curious to know if you agree with the majority. Here are some of the findings:
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Diet Soda Linked to Vascular Complications
At one time did you make a switch from regular soda to diet as a “positive” change for your health?
I know I made the switch back in about 1993. Fortunately, I don’t drink soda daily and even cut it completely out of my diet for months at a time, but based on the more research that comes out I need to just eliminate it permanently.
According to Hannah Gardener and fellow researchers from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, regular soft drink consumption and moderate intake of diet soft drinks are potentially linked to a higher risk of vascular events.
Gardener and fellow researchers analyzed 2,564 patients in the Northern Manhattan Study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study was designed to determine stroke incidence, risk factors, and prognosis in a multi-ethnic urban population.
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Should food stamps be used to purchase soda?
Mayor Bloomberg requested permission from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to prevent food stamps be spent on sugary drinks in an effort to counter rising rates of obesity. This would then provide families with additional money for the purchase of more nutritious foods and drinks.
This could be seen as “picking on” individuals that struggle to make ends meet and rely on foods stamps.
What do you think?
Are the rising rates of obesity and increasing health care costs linked to people not knowing how to purchase healthy foods? Should the government be able to regulate what individuals using food stamps purchase?
My opinion:
