I can't post links yet, but the details are here:

billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2008/pdf/history/HB/HB0282.xml

Description: Food establishments; prohibit from serving food to any person who is obese.

Background Information:
Disposition: Active
Deadline: General Bill/Constitutional Amendment
Revenue: No
Vote type required: Majority
Effective date: July 1, 2008


History of Actions:
1 01/25 (H) Referred To Public Health and Human Services;Judiciary B


----- Additional Information -----

House Committee: Public Health and Human Services*, Judiciary B

Principal Author: Mayhall
Additional Authors: Read, Shows

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.

----- Bill Text for All Versions ----

that's never going to pass.. how will they be able to tell?
my bmi is 30.4 which is technically "obese"
i wear a size 10. i don't "look" obese.
i'm not the only person out there like me.

Wouldn't that be considered discrimination? There is no way that bill is oing to pass.

I wonder what tourists would think, or conventions . . . good golly, talk about a chilling effect on the industry! Solve one problem and shoot the state in the foot all at the same time . . .

This is absolutely ridiculous. What's next, grocery stores are not allowed to sell food to fat people? Not even lettuce? What restaurant doesn't have at least one diet friendly option? Even lousy diet choices can fit into calorie counting. Creating "food police" will never work, it will just create a black market, and more social approval for ostracising fat people, which only creates fatter agoraphobics.

Who decides "obese"? This is crazy, it will never pass.I suspect that some of the legislators would be considered obese.

No kidding...after all, they really have a lot of "room" to talk, don't they?

Hilarious! I'm from Mississippi, and 60% of the general population is obese. We're the fattest state in the US, and the US is the fattest country in the world, so I guess that that makes us the fattest people in the world. You can guarantee that there are plenty of legislators obese as well. I can't even take this seriously. No way would this ever go through. The general population as well as restaurant owners would be up in arms!

Some of my best meals while losing weight have been in ethnic restaurants. I have actually lost weight while traveling and dining out every day. This is insane!

Hmm... I wonder if this has anything to do with recent stories about obese people who have been kicked out of all-you-can-eat buffets? After all, it doesn't say that obese people won't be able to enter ANY restaurant, just certain ones. I can't get the links offhand but maybe someone with more time to Google can find one if it interests people. Just a thought.

Not that I think that's justification for such a bill to pass. That thing will (and should) be kicked out before it sees the light of day.

It has actually happened. 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.

The full text reads:

HOUSE BILL NO. 282


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. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Mississippi:


SECTION 1.

(1) The provisions of this section shall apply to any food establishment that is required to obtain a permit from the State Department of Health under Section 41-3-15(4)(f), that operates primarily in an enclosed facility and that has five (5) or more seats for customers.

(2) Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor. The State Department of Health shall prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese, and shall provide those materials to all food establishments to which this section applies. A food establishment shall be entitled to rely on the criteria for obesity in those written materials when determining whether or not it is allowed to serve food to any person.

(3) The State Department of Health shall monitor the food establishments to which this section applies for compliance with the provisions of this section, and may revoke the permit of any food establishment that repeatedly violates the provisions of this section.


SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2008.


Should this pass, scales will appear at the door of restaurants, people with BMIs of 30 or higher won’t be allowed to be served. And to comply with government regulations, restaurants will have to keep records of patrons' BMIs.

Is this a tongue-in-cheek bill, meant to point out how absurd the war on obesity has become? Or do lawmakers actually believe the myths that gluttony is the cause for obesity and that it is the government’s role to force people to eat and live how it deems best?

I called lead author, Rep. Mayhall, and asked if this was serious legislation or tongue-in-cheek to make a point. He kindly took a moment to answer my question while the legislature was in session. He said that while, regrettably, he doesn’t believe his bill will pass, this is serious. He wrote it, he said, because of the “urgency of the obesity crisis and need for government action.” He hopes it will “call attention to the serious problem of obesity and what it is costing the Medicare system.”

So, yes, this is for real and these elected officials actually believe this stuff.

The time is now for all Americans who value their freedom to eat, look, breathe and live their lives how they choose to unite!

You have got to be kidding me?! Is this a joke? There is no way this would actually get through. It's probably just as usual one or two people trying to make a name for themselves with a crazy bill.

Just so you know it was thrown out. It never saw light of day and I hope Mayhall gets his. Karma can be a beautiful thing sometimes.

Yeah, this is really old news. If you Google it, you can get all sorts of reactions on other forums and message boards from people who have gone over this weeks ago.