So as expected the New York City Board of Health has voted 8-0-1 to approve Mayor Bloomberg's plan to ban sugary soft drinks in sizes greater than 16oz.'s

Here's a link to an article that offers some info...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/ny...?smid=pl-share

I don't want to get anyone here too worked up about all of this, but since I think it might be a sign of things to come, I thought it be interesting to see how people here who are working on their health and weight loss feel about it....

So I guess my question is... Do you think it will do any good...?

What someone eats/drinks or in general does with their body is entirely their business if they are over the age of 18. I would drink more soda (I never consumed regular soda in the first place) to protest!!! It will not "help" anyone who doesn't want to change themselves or what they are doing. I think it is disgusting and unconstitutional. No, I'm totally worked up about it. And nobody ban HFCS because corn is a government subsidiary. Nope, won't do any good.

Agreed 100%

I became obese and I rarely drank soda. Beyond being an over-stepping of government's boundaries, it's ridiculous beyond belief. Where is the endpoint to this? Will there come a time when only single serving sizes of ice cream are available? Maybe that won't be enough, and we'll only be able to buy low fat frozen yogurt; hmmm, still getting fatter, America? Let's ban ice cream altogether.

Another thing that bugs me is that I'm the mother of 6 kids, and I probably speak for many with large families, but we often will buy a larger size of something (because it's cheaper per portion) and split it between several kids. I do this with coffee from McD's. The one near us charges $1 for any size, so I get a large decaf for my older boys and they split it. If laws like this keep getting passed, then options such as the above might become limited.

Beck-my mother was just saying this, she is from a family of 6 kids. Things like this will make it harder to buy for a family...I didn't even consider THAT bc I don't have kids yet.

I think it's silly, personally.

Heroin is illegal and so was alcohol at one point. These kinds of things do nothing to change people. Someone who wants to drink 32 ounces of soda will just buy 2. I don't drink soda with calories/sugar, but if I did this wouldn't stop me from drinking as much of it as I'd like.

What I really don't like is the thought of it. It comes across as "you all are too stupid to figure out soda is bad, so we are going to make you drink less of it." I think as a whole people know it's not good for them, just as most smokers know smoking is not good for them. People do what they do!

And as another poster mentioned, it makes it more expensive for those who buy a larger drink to split. Makes me really wonder if it's more about making more money than anything to do with health.

Seriously. What a dumb thing to devote so much energy to. How about jobs and getting kids off drugs - the stuff that matters to New Yorkers?

Everytime I've gone to NY they offered free Refills..... :/ What's the point on banning the size sold if you can just refill as much as you want?!

No I don't think it will do any good at all. And even tho I am not a NYer, I'm pretty peeved that an elected official has the ba11s to assume they can tell their constituents "what is best for them." And like mesceletus, I would drink soda just to protest as well. In fact, I'd take my 64 oz Big Bubba jug and fill it to the brim & take it with me everywhere I went to say "SEE? I CAN GET AROUND YOUR IDIOT LAWS." You cannot force people into a healthy lifestyle. It has to come from inside a person. PERIOD.

I don't live in NY so it doesn't really affect me, but I still think it's silly. If I remember correctly, the ban does not include things like juice, alcohol, or frozen beverages which can be just as bad, if not worse, than a large soda. Okay, so I can't drink a large Coke for 300 calories, but I can have a large milkshake for close to 900? Anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

The first time I read the part in bold, I thought you were saying that heroin and alcohol do nothing to change people. Nearly fell off my chair!

Maybe in theory it seemed like a good idea, but in practice I don't see how it will work well.
Side note: Why does everything have to be in huge sizes? It is darn near impossible to find a candy bar in a size other than "king size" in the gas stations. Chips too. The bags just keep getting bigger and bigger.

Oh dear! I would have fallen off my chair too if I though someone would've said that. That sentence was poorly worded.

Well, I mean think about it: people go on about how America is overweight; they make TV shows about it. They wanted to take a small step into easing up on how much crap we put in. People complain when there's huge sugary drinks on the market, and now we're here complaining they can't do that. No one wins.
Indeed however, it is true they shouldn't be allowed to get away with something like that, the way America works. I'm not in New York though, so I don't really care, it's up to those who do.

It's a slippery slope.Who's to say down the road what they think we shouldn't be drinking,eating,or doing...and they will ban it.Personally,I just wish they'd make drink sizes a bit more normal.I went to a fast food place just to get a drink,and my small diet coke was HUGE! I was afraid to see what the next size up looked like.

I teach in a high needs area in Brooklyn. We were all discussing this today and I'm STILL not sure where I stand.

A lot of the kids where I teach are overweight/obese. The overwhelming majority of the school, actually. The thing is THERE ARE NO HEALTHY FOOD PLACES IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. Food deserts are real, folks and limiting the consumption of something unhealthy might help just a bit.

However I think the real focus should be on getting healthy food into this neighborhoods for a reasonable price and educating the kids about these healthy foods. We're pushing health and wellness education in my school now so hopefully it'll help some of these kids make some healthy choices.

I'd like to think this is the reason behind the ban. Serving sizes are truly out of control and kids are led to believe that 32 ounces is a normal size serving of soda, especially kids in urban neighborhoods where choices are so limited.