Fat Chance

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now recommending that restaurants across the nation scale back their portion sizes and also publicize the calories per item on the menu to aid in the combat against the nationwide obesity epidemic. As if the government isn't into enough of what we do already ... now their gearing up to tell us what we should and shouldn't eat. Yes, the fact that 64% of Americans are overweight and 30% are obese is staggering ... but being overweight is the choice that 64% of us have made and chosen to live with. Nobody held gun to their head and forced them to eat until they were fat ... it was completely by choice (with few medical exceptions). Why don't we take it a step further and force restaurants to provide patrons with obese or non-obese dining areas. Just like how smokers are forced to sit way in the back and get ashtrays at their tables, obese customers can sit close to the door (easier entrance/egress) and have an endless buffet delivered right to their table. A little over the top ... not really. Smokers are blamed for endangering the health of others, but why not obese people? They also carry with them (sorry for the pun) inherent public health risks by stressing furniture beyond its rated capacity causing premature, and often instantaneous, structural failure of the unit and ultimately posing a wide variety of traumatic injuries to any unsuspecting patron.