San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Ban on Toys in Happy Meals is Yet Another Feel Good Policy that Does Nothing to Protect the Public's Health

Pregnancy first trimesterThis Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to forbiddance the body of toys in kids' meals (e.g., "Happy Meals") that do not foregather certain nutritional criteria.According to a CNN article: "The San Francisco, California, Board of Supervisors on Tuesday illegal most McDonald's Happy Meals with toys, as they're today served. The ordinance, which requires McDonald's and other fast-food servings with toys to foregather newborn nutritional standards, today goes to Mayor Gavin Newsom, who indicated before his election last hebdomad to California lieutenant controller that he would oppose the law. That oppose would be vacuous because the commission authorised the designation 8-3, a veto-proof margin. With octad votes, the commission could override the veto." ...

"Under the law, McDonald's and other restaurants module hit until Dec 2011 to improve their meals' nutrition by adding fruits and vegetables -- if the chains poverty to ready offering toys, including those promoting the stylish films. The matter and beverages module hit to include inferior than 600 calories, and inferior than 35 proportionality of total calories module become from fat. The nutrition staleness include half a prize of production and three-fourths prize of vegetables, and substance inferior than 640 milligrams of metal and inferior than 0.5 milligrams of trans fat. Breakfast module hit the choice of offering half cups of production or vegetables. City officials said they expect a jural challenge from McDonald's, which declined to comment on doable jural action."

The Rest of the Story

There are threesome major problems with the forbiddance on behave giveaways with “Kids’ Meals.” First, this intervention module do dead null to turn immatureness obesity. The toys are not the reason why parents are attractive their kids to alacritous matter restaurants same McDonalds and Burger King. Parents are not feat to suddenly kibosh attractive their kids discover to these alacritous matter restaurants because toys are no individual presented discover with kids’ meals.

Second, the contract represents a large intrusion into the independency of businesses, and a kinda severe restriction of marketing. Such an intrusion could be justified if the contract were needed and trenchant to advance a substantial polity interest, much as reaction immatureness obesity. But the contract module not turn immatureness obesity. It module hit no open upbeat impact. Therefore, the intrusion is not justified.

Third, the contract represents a selective intrusion into the marketing of kids’ foods. If it is pertinent to prohibit restaurants from including toys as a marketing agency to sell kids’ meals, then why is the San Francisco Board of Supervisors not also prohibiting the sale of sugary cereals that include toys in the package? Why is the San Francisco Board of Supervisors not also prohibiting fleecy ingest vending machines in schools? What most junk matter same Cracker Jacks that comes with toys? And how most promotions where fleecy ingest or junk matter companies substance coupons to activities that attractiveness to youths, much as discounts at movie theatres or recreation parks?

It appears that, meet same the forbiddance on baccy sales in pharmacies, this is mostly a feel-good contract that allows the Board of Supervisors to attain it appear that they hit tackled an important open upbeat supply but without actually doing anything that module hit an effect on the public’s health. It allows the Supervisors to entrepot political assign for tackling a problem without having to attain the politically difficult, courageous decisions that would actually attain a disagreement in the blubber epidemic, much as completely reforming school nutrition nutrition, implementing daily, coupler physical activity programs in schools, addressing the TRUE maldistribution of flourishing food, and improving open parks and country in urban neighborhoods.

It haw become as a surprise to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, but it is not the toys which are feat immatureness obesity, it is the food. If this honor of intrusion into the marketing of jural products is justified, then so is a more direct move of only control the matter that can or cannot be oversubscribed to children. Obviously, much an move is beyond the pertinent role of government.

The rest of the news is that what might at prototypal countenance same a courageous behave to go after alacritous matter companies is actually a cowardly maneuver to attain it countenance same our politicians are doing something when in fact, the contract they hit enacted module hit no effect on the public’s health. In the mean time, the actual solutions, which would actually turn blubber and spend lives, are existence neglected. This is still added feel-good contract that creates political acquire by dishonorable the open into believing that something has been accomplished, when in fact there module be no effect on the public’s health.

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