Lawmakers have proposed legislation that forbids restaurants and food establishments from serving food to anyone who is obese (as defined by the State). Under this bill, food establishments are to be monitored for compliance under the State Department of Health and violators will have their business permits revoked.

House Bill 282 was introduced in the 2008 Mississippi legislative session on Friday by Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr., a retired pharmaceutical salesman with DuPont-Merk. Its co-authors are Bobby Shows, a businessman, and John Read, a pharmacist.

Like BitDrifter said, this is ridiculous. And people have to eat, as bignosemousie mentions.

Mississippi, the one and only state t...

Lawmakers have proposed legislation that forbids restaurants and food establishments from serving food to anyone who is obese (as defined by the State). Under this bill, food establishments are to be monitored for compliance under the State Department of Health and violators will have their business permits revoked.

House Bill 282 was introduced in the 2008 Mississippi legislative session on Friday by Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr., a retired pharmaceutical salesman with DuPont-Merk. Its co-authors are Bobby Shows, a businessman, and John Read, a pharmacist.

Like BitDrifter said, this is ridiculous. And people have to eat, as bignosemousie mentions.

Mississippi, the one and only state that this would apply to, has a higher number of obese individuals apparently. And some dumb lawmakers seem to think they're the ones who can slim down the state.

But, yes, fast food places like McDonalds in Mississippi would be prohibited to serving food to certain people.

I think this is such a lame idea, just stupid. I honestly can't ever see this happening, or getting the required approval to become law, but then again, there's been a lot of things in this country that have happened and surprised the hell out of me lately.

alanocu, I was listening to my left-wing public radio where they were running a report on Thailand and their growing supermarkets. Small ma and pa food stores over there are loosing business to these super stores where food is neatly packed and showcased. But that was not the story which made me curious. The report said that the obesity in Thailand is growing at alarming rate.

You know, I made two and two together, the McDonalds is not the single corporation taking over the world, there are many out there making life "easy" for the rest of human beings besides American. Yes, I know, McDonalds also sell salad, and Coke sells the diet too. That's not my point.

So no, I do not find thi...

alanocu, I was listening to my left-wing public radio where they were running a report on Thailand and their growing supermarkets. Small ma and pa food stores over there are loosing business to these super stores where food is neatly packed and showcased. But that was not the story which made me curious. The report said that the obesity in Thailand is growing at alarming rate.

You know, I made two and two together, the McDonalds is not the single corporation taking over the world, there are many out there making life "easy" for the rest of human beings besides American. Yes, I know, McDonalds also sell salad, and Coke sells the diet too. That's not my point.

So no, I do not find this legislation crazy or absurd. My only comment is that they're probably not doing it right and they have no control over things.

I just wonder how so many people get obese in the first place.

One thing that happens over in the U.S. is predatory pricing. The big guys like the Wal-Marts of the world will open up and sometimes deliberately mark the prices down lower than their cost. They lose money in the short-term, but the little guys can't compete with that, which often shuts them down. Once the little guy is gone, the prices go up in the Wal-Marts. Consumers will look for the cheapest price to them (with makes sense), but it really can impact the ma' and pa' shops.

The idea of helping an obese individual to control their weight is not a bad thing, except I think the choice should remain in the hands of that individual. The idea of the government controlling what I can or c...

One thing that happens over in the U.S. is predatory pricing. The big guys like the Wal-Marts of the world will open up and sometimes deliberately mark the prices down lower than their cost. They lose money in the short-term, but the little guys can't compete with that, which often shuts them down. Once the little guy is gone, the prices go up in the Wal-Marts. Consumers will look for the cheapest price to them (with makes sense), but it really can impact the ma' and pa' shops.

The idea of helping an obese individual to control their weight is not a bad thing, except I think the choice should remain in the hands of that individual. The idea of the government controlling what I can or cannot eat is what I think is wrong. The overall benefit of improving our health is a very good thing, but like you mentioned, they are not going about it right.

Obesity has never been an issue in my family, so staying trim is much easier for me. But it can be a constant and daily struggle for someone with a different metabolism or genetic makeup.