Fat chance for sanity about obesity

Hula Hoops. Pet rocks. Long hair and granny glasses. This country has seen a lot of fads and the latest one is to blame obesity on food companies.

No one knows what obesity costs in terms of health care, but just under $100 billion a year seems to be the consensus. That's roughly 10% of the

Clearly obesity is a serious issue that's growing in severity and importance. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13% of U.S. adolescents are overweight or obese and children between the ages of six and 11 have the fastest growing rate of obesity in the country. Two years ago, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a "Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity."

Now comes the New Jersey Legislature to remedy this state's share of the problem. As former State Senator John Lynch liked to say, quoting Mark Twain, "No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the Legislature is in session."

When lawmakers addressed smoking, they acted with a vengeance. For starters, New Jersey banned smoking everywhere it could be banned and then raised cigarette taxes to the highest level of any state in the country.

But legislators have little power to deal with our eating habits other than to tax foods or repeat your mother's warning that "eat too much and you'll get fat." Years ago, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, I proposed a "fat tax" based on calories, fat content and other aspects of the food we eat. I may yet see such a tax, since passing this kind of legislation allows legislators to claim they're doing something while giving them more money to spend.

The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reported that 179 bills or resolutions dealing with obesity have been introduced in state legislatures this year, up from the mere 72 that were proposed last year. Two of those 179 bills are before the New Jersey Legislature.

One, A3592, introduced by Herb Conaway, a Democratic Assemblyman from Delran, would require managed-care plans to treat adult obesity, which is probably a good idea. This bill was introduced on May 15 and has not come up in committee.

The other measure, A3534, sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck, would create the New Jersey Obesity Prevention Task Force. Weinberg previously sponsored a bill that would have banned smoking on school buses when no students were on board.

Weinberg's latest measure declares that "[i]t is in the interest of the public health for the State to establish a New Jersey Obesity Prevention Task Force to develop recommendations for specific actionable measures to support and enhance obesity prevention among New Jersey residents, particularly among children and adolescents." I italicized "actionable measures" because the phrase shows that this lawmaker really does want action.

Weinberg's task force would no doubt launch a multimedia, interactive, holistic information program with the "voluntary" cooperation of the food industry to warn consumers that, "if you eat too much, you'll get fat!"