Courtesy of the new healthcare bill, vending machines will soon be required to post calorie counts on all of our favorite comfort foods. By the end of the year, we’ll all know that a bag of Cheetos contains 360 calories or a 12-ounce can of coke has 140 calories; and hopefully we’ll be twenty pounds slimmer because of it.Since the legislature voted YES on Obama’s Health Care Reform Bill on March 21st, the FDA has required that all caloric counts must be visible on all vending machines across the country. This, (they hope) will decrease the percentage of obesity in America.
The issue with posting calorie counts on vending machines is that most Americans don’t know what the heck a calorie is and why it matters to the daily diet. The recommended daily calorie intake for moderately active adults for weight maintenance is 2,000 calories, which sounds like a reasonable number but most adults are living sedentary lifestyles. Subtract 500 from the recommended daily amount and that bag of chips make a huge difference. 250 calories doesn’t seem like a lot but when that’s added to a 1500 calorie diet, you just blew almost a meal’s worth of calories on an empty snack with no vitamins, no fiber and no protein.
Calorie posts can be an effective in tracking what we put into their bodies when we want that 3pm afternoon snack, but does anything really come good out of a vending machine? If the FDA, AOA and the legislature want to lower the number of fat people in America, then why don’t they try the easier solution and get rid of the foods that make us fat. Those Snickers bars, Doritos and Honey Buns are delicious but they aren’t satisfying and we are much better without them anyway.
This so-called “giant” leap of progress Congress thinks they’re making by mandatory caloric postings isn’t enough. Knowing that a measly bag of M&Ms consists of 250 calories I think I can resist my chocolate temptation and opt for an granola bar; but what about the other people in America who need a quick snack for a $1.50. If posting calories in vending machines is America’s solution to fighting obesity then we aren't making the right amount amount of progress to eliminate it.
Your first link is not actually to the health care bill. You can't say your sending reader somewhere and then send them somewhere else. That ought to be an actual copy of the bill or an authoritative source talking about it.
ReplyDeleteSame with link to 360 calories and 140 calories. it's clearly a related site, but not actually matching up with the numbers you present. I like the idea of linking to calories and products, but i don't think you've found quite the right place
And the second time you mention health care reform bill, you go to Washington Post. That's what you should have done with first mention
I like the opinion you show at the end. more of that through story might be good.