Mississippi to Ban Fat People from Eating in Restaurants

Mississippi, the fattest state in the Union, introduced a bill last Friday that would ban some restaurants from serving anyone with a BMI over 30.

The bill, HB 282, is sparking uproar. Two of the bill's sponsors did have careers related to healthcare prior to becoming lawmakers. Regardless, many are wondering now if this bill, despite its intentions to make Mississippians healthier, does so at the detriment of the big three: life, liberty, and the pursuit of Big Macs. Has Mississippi's State House crossed over the line? Should you be required by law to weigh in before the menu arrives?

Mississippi considers banning people with a BMI higher than 30 from eating in public. Though its author doesn't expect it to pass, House Bill 282 attempts to draw attention to the obesity epidemic, exaggerated or no. Predictably, some are upset.

Obese people are fast becoming a majority of Americans. This will sort itself out in the polls.
I can't imagine that passing. I mean, who do they think provides most of the revenue for restaurants?

If they really wanted to cut back on obesity, they ought to just ban fast food chains. Because McDonald's would go out of business either way.

Title: AN ACT TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS FROM SERVING FOOD TO ANY PERSON WHO IS OBESE, BASED ON CRITERIA PRESCRIBED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT TO PREPARE WRITTEN MATERIALS THAT DESCRIBE AND EXPLAIN THE CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A PERSON IS OBESE AND TO PROVIDE THOSE MATERIALS TO THE FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS; TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT TO MONITOR THE FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

As the issue of obesity and its downstream social and medical costs gain evermore public attention and media exposure, almost as the night follows cocktail hour it will also become a legal, and ultimately perhaps even Constitutional issue as well. Here are just a few areas to watch for an onset of litigation.

W.T. Mayhall, Jr, Republican House member in Mississippi, has introduced a bill so obnoxiously wrong that I very seriously doubt it will make it out of the Public Health and Human Services committee to which it has been referred. HB282 is:

An act to prohibit certain food establishments from serving food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health; to direct the Department to prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese and to provide those materials to the food establishments; to direct the department to monitor the food establishments for compliance with the provision of this act; and for related purposes.

“Certain food establishments” means those with seating for 5 or more customers, so basically all of them.

Mississippi could become the first state to ban the artery clogger, trans fat, from public schools.

It's part of a proposal the House is considering to tackle the state's obesity epedimic among children.

An estimated 35 percent of Mississippi students are considered overweight.

The city of New York banned trans-fat from its restaurants last month.

Trans fat is a man-made substance found in oils and shortenings to enhance flavor and shelf life of foods.

 "Trans fats have no nutritional value to the body whatsoever. We're going to get rid of it. If it isn't good for you, kids shouldn't be eating it," says Rep. John Reeves (R) Jackson.