Bill Clinton was on the Piers Morgan Show on CNN last week and he had a few things to say about both the vegan diet and New York Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed ban on super-sized sodas.
In case you haven’t heard about the ban, Bloomberg wants to limit fountain drinks to 16-ounce cups to help fight the growing incidence of obesity and Type-2 diabetes in New York.
Bill Clinton, who recently went on a vegan diet (I’m not sure if that was a temporary move to lose weight or a permanent lifestyle change) had a few things to say in support of the soda ban.
I think he’s doing the right thing,” Clinton said. “And let me explain why: We worked in 14,000 schools, trying to help improve the school lunch offerings and what’s in the vending machines. We got a voluntary agreement from all the soft-drinks people to [pull full-calorie soft drinks from schools in 2006]. It has reduced by 88%, the total calories going to kids in vending machines and cafeterias.”
Clinton was talking about a program launched in 2006 by his own foundation, the American Heart Association and the American Beverage Association.
I’m not too big on government dictating what we eat and drink, but I’m all for the ban or at least some kind of measure to reduce sodas or eliminate them altogether in schools.
As Clinton says,
We’ve got this explosion of diabetes in America among young people,” says Clinton. “For the first time, Type II diabetes is showing up in 9-year-olds and among the Baby Boomers who are retiring. It’s a terrible human tragedy, and it’s basically too much sugar going into the body, we can’t process it all. I know a lot of people think, ‘Well, this is a nanny state and [Bloomberg is] interfering.’ But these are very serious problems. It’s like shortening your life and undermining the quality of your life and exploding the cost of our health care system.”
Type-2 diabetes in nine-year old children. Seriously, anything that can help turn this trend around is okay with me.
You can watch a video clip of the interview at CelberityHealthFitnes.com. I’d love to hear your views on the soda ban, too. I know government mandates can be a tricky subject, but do you think the possible health benefits outweigh the issue of government interference?
What do you think about the government’s effort to lessen the consumption of soda? Do you agree that it would benefit many people in return? Please share you views below.
- Jenny Sangler
Maybe instead of a ban on the consumption of soft drink…how about just decreasing or eliminating the production of soda altogether!
Good idea! That might work as well!
I think it’s unnecessary and intrusive and needs to be stopped or it won’t stop there. You know what else causes diabetes and other metabolic diseases? GMOs, antibiotics in meat, hormones injected into the cows that provide the dairy consumed by….these same kids. Until this is addressed, I will not even try to take Bloomberg or Clinton seriously. Telling people what they can put in their mouths is unacceptable at any age.
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