TIME TO TAKE ON BIG FOOD

Students need to be educated on the dangers of consuming high-calorie foods and insufficient physical activity. Empowering persons to take personal responsibility for their health should start in schools and continue throughout their lives. The only way we can significantly improve healthcare for an entire population at once is through public-health laws. Forcing car companies to include seatbelts in cars was a major accomplishment that saved millions from death and injury. Restricting Big Tobacco marketing and locations for smoking have done more to decrease this habit than any public-education campaign. And now it is time to take on Big Food. The Government must enact legislation to force restaurants to list the caloric values of meals in their menus. Fast-food franchises have no place in our schools and must remove unhealthy junk foods from their menus if they are to stay.

Instead, every time the conversation arises, there is talk from the powers that be of a tax on sugary drinks. No other measures. Just one silver bullet in the chamber. Mandating manufacturers to limit the amount of sugars they use would be more useful than a tax that would steer persons towards “healthy” fruit juices with added sugar, and for the poorer among us, syrup.

We must protect our children from themselves and ourselves from our own selves.

History is replete with examples of how laws have improved our health, chlorine in water, food handlers’ permits, licensing of physicians and medical schools, seatbelt laws, mandatory vaccinations for children, among countless others.

It is now time for Parliament to act in the interest of the nation and address practically the obesity epidemic in Jamaica. Dr Alfred Dawes is a general laparoscopic and weight-loss surgeon at the Island Laparoscopy and Medical Care. Email info@islandlaparoscopy.com; yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.