Tweaking the Don't Feed the Obese Bill

Many will recall the bill introduced in Mississippi that would ban restaurants from serving obese people.

Now it seems some recognize that such a law would be unworkable, so they're trying to tweak it along to be more palatable for passage.

A press release today touts the ideas of public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who suggests "Focusing your bill on protecting children rather than adults would remove the major objection to it, and provide a strong argument for it - one likely to be echoed by many groups concerned about child health and welfare."

BELOW IS A DRAFT OF THE MAIN PROVISIONS OF THE REVISED BILL BANZHAF PROPOSES:

No employee of a fast food chain outlet shall serve to any child who appears, to a reasonable person, to be under the age of 16 and to be obese, any single food item reported by the company to contain more than 500 calories, nor any meal where the calories in all of the food items in the meal (including any drinks, but not including sauces not provided at the counter) as reported by the company exceed 1000 calories.

However, all such food items may be served if the child is accompanied by a parent or guardian, or if the child presents a letter or note on the letterhead of a physician, hospital, or other health care entity certifying that he is not obese or that for medical reasons he should be served such food items, or if he or she provides such proof in a form or manner approved by the State Department of Health, including but not necessarily limited to, a wallet-sized card from any of the above sources or from the school which the child attends.

Oy!

Read the full press release here.