big gulpImagine, if you will, that you're at the movie theater and want to split one of those giant sodas with your date. Only you can't! Or it's a hot day at a sports arena and you want to grab one of those big sports drinks. Only you can't! This could soon be the world that New Yorkers inhabit as the city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, wants to ban the sale of ultra large, sugary drinks. Gulp. Big Gulp!

I guess this isn't entirely surprising. Bloomberg is a health fanatic who has forced some of his healthful ways on the city. He banned smoking in most public places and has added lots of bike lanes, trying to encourage New Yorkers to exercise more. As for sodas, they definitely contribute to the country's obesity problem. So, I can see why huge sugary drinks wouldn't go down sweetly with Bloomie.

But while ban would include sodas, sports drinks, and pre-sweetened ice teas, it would not include some equally unhealthy drinks like alcohol, milkshakes, diet sodas, or fruit juices. Which is pretty unfair to the Big Gulps, Slurpees, and titanic sodas, when you think about it. Why ban one group and not the other?

Also the ban would not include large sugary drinks sold in grocery stores. Just those poured in restaurants and movie theaters and sports arenas. And what is to stop someone from buying two or three smaller-sized sodas? Nothing.

So ... what kind of impact on obesity can this law actually HAVE? I'd say not much. Not much at all. But Bloomberg probably doesn't really care about that. He's just trying to make a point. In this case, however, the main point he's making is that he's totally earned his nickname, "Emperor Bloomberg."

Do you think big sodas should be banned?


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