Sugar wars: to combat obesity, New York City wants to ban the sale of large sugary drinks. Is your diet the government's business?

• Author: Majerol, Veronica
• Position: NATIONAL

The question has become a routine part of the movie-going experience for Americans: "Would you like the jumbo-size drink for only 50 cents more?"

But if Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York has his way, movie theaters, restaurants, fast-food joints, and other places that sell prepared food in New York won't be able to offer sodas or any other sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces. (Grocery and convenience stores like 7-Eleven would be exempt.)

The proposed ban is intended to help fight obesity, which has reached nationwide epidemic proportions. According to health agencies, more than one third of Americans are obese; in New York City, more than half of adults are either overweight or obese. High consumption of sugary drinks is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and long-term weight gain, so the city says it has an interest in preventing these conditions and the medical costs associated with them.

"Obesity is a nationwide problem," says Mayor Bloomberg. "I think [this is] what the public wants the mayor to do."

New York isn't the only city taking aim at soda consumption. Philadelphia and several California cities are proposing a tax on sugary drinks, and a sales tax for sweetened drinks is already on the books in 30 states, including Texas and Iowa. But critics see these efforts as part of a "nanny state" mentality in which government tries to legislate good behavior.

"Fundamentally, I don't think we need the government to protect us from ourselves," says Justin Wilson of the Center for Consumer Freedom, which represents the beverage industry and has run ads poking fun at the mayor (see facing page). "I think that's rooted in a paternalistic ideology that most Americans reject."

Supersize Me

Ronald Bayer, a professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, agrees that the proposed ban is paternalistic--but that doesn't stop him from supporting it.

"We know that people die from bad consumption patterns," says Bayer. "The goal of all this seems to be to change public norms."

Much like the candy bars, bagels, and french fries we eat today, the portion sizes of soda have exploded over the years. The 1920s Coca-Cola bottle was just 6.5 ounces (see chart) and in 1955, a 7-ounce soda was the only size you could buy at McDonald's.

But by 1999, the fast-food chain had begun offering 42-ounce "Supersize" cups, six times the size of the 1955 container. Most other fast-food chains followed suit with their own jumbo sizes. * Research...