Point/Counterpoint on Obesity

Two interesting columns offering different views on the obesity issue…

Columnist John Feffer takes issue with with the “Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act of 2003 pending in Congress that would ban all lawsuits linking the food industry to obesity.

First of all, he argues, the claim that obesity-related lawsuits will wreck the food industry really is a red herring. That’s because the tort system is “relatively effective in screening out nonmeritorious cases.” Besides, he adds, obesity is too complicated an issue simply to pass off as a matter of personal responsibility.

“Let's for the moment forget knee-jerk libertarianism and its ‘get your dirty laws off my paunch’ battle cry. Obesity is a problem, if not for you then at least for an ever increasing number of ever-increasing Americans. One-third of the population is obese, two-thirds are overweight, and the Journal of International Obesity warns of an ‘epidemic.’ It's a problem particularly among children, the less affluent, new immigrants, and women of color. The costs are staggering: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate America's annual price tag for obesity at $117 billion. And it's not just America. In 2000, to underscore the growing global divide of haves and have nots, the number of overweight finally matched that of the undernourished at 1.1 billion each.’”

Libertarians, on the other hand, beg to disagree. Writing for the libertarian Cato Institute, Michael I. Krauss and Robert A. Levy contend obesity is a “private, not public, health problem.” “Public,” in this case would apply only to cases requiring collective action where individual harm can’t be resolved except through a social solution.

“Excessive food consumption, for example, would be a public health problem if it were contagious. But it isn't. Similarly, fat does not infect us as it crosses state borders. So far, cholesterol has not been mentioned as a biological weapon that might be used by our enemies. Decisions about nutrition, for us and our families, are voluntary, entirely private matters. We do not need government—much less federal government—making those decisions for us. “

Posted by Jim Langcuster at April 28, 2004 09:28 AM | TrackBack