what scares me about this as well is the public humiliation aspect of the bill. who among us would actually voluntarily walk into an establishment where you're paying for service, only to run the risk of having it publically announced that service is denied to you because of your physical appearance? i'm not talking about the lines of patrons at a club or the owner of studio 54 standing outside hand-picking the people he let in on a nightly basis. this isn't motivation to lose weight, it puts everyone on the defensive. this is where lawsuits over discrimination and emotional anguish start.

aside from how ludicrous the bill is, and the fact that mississippi taxpayers should be up in arms that their government actually wasted tax dollars to draft this drivel, the other major problem is that they're using the BMI charts as a "standard." WE all know that those horribly outdated charts are pointless and unfair. according to those, all the guys on american gladiators would be deemed "obese" along with half the guys in the WWE. i can see it now... restaurant hosts across the state have to explain to these very large, very muscular men that according to "medical standards", they are too fat to eat at the restaurant and must leave. would pregnant women who also tip into the "obese" category have to provide proof that they would be "normal" if they weren't pregnant?

It's true. The first link in the original post is to the website of the Mississippi State Legislature.

The bill has no chance of passing. With the number of overweight people in the state, the legislator that introduced it will have a very difficult time getting re-elected. Most of the voters are overweight and the opponent will let them know that the incumbent wants to ban them from eating.

Yeah, I know it doesn't have a chance. It's just so disturbing that anyone would even entertain such an idea.

As usual politicians panicking and trying to pass a law aimed at the wrong people to fix it. Mississippi according to the CDC report in 2006 has the 2nd highest overweight/obesity rate in the U.S. 66.7% of the citizens of Mississippi are overweight or obese (West Virginia is the highest 67%).
61.6% of the people that live in the U.S. are either overweight or obese.
They should pass a law that the restaurant or establishment that serves a meal containing more than 4000 calories to a person should be shut down or fined. That would do more good. Or they should do what New York is right now fighting to get into law. They want all restaurants and eating establishments to list the calorie content of each meal on the menu.

If you want to look up the figure for your state go to:
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/list...=4409&state=All

I wish this did shock me but I've been expecting the next set of hate laws disquised as health laws to appear. It was just a matter of time. This one may not go though but I"m sure it's just the start of what we will be seeing.

I'm also not surprised to see a "retired" Phama salesman associated with it, wonder what new posion "pill" Dupont-Merk has to force upon the puplic to "treat" the fatties with? This law will make it a top seller, won't it?

I agree, Glennette. This is a hate law, and that's the most disturbing thing about it. Take out the word "obese" and insert "African," "Jewish," "Italian," or whichever adjective occurs to you ... it's a hate law. Very, very scary. Hopefully it won't go anywhere.

Rachel

this just caused a bad scene at my house.

I was explaining to my dh about it (note: he's NEVER had a weight problem). He said, 'oh, that's a good idea'

HUH???

I just bet you, though, that if they put this test to half the people passing the bill (BMI) not many of them would get food.

This is still making me shake my head.

I guess their idea for a bill to mandate putting statins in the water supply didn't pan out.

What they really need is a law against electing stupid people for the legislature.

As scary as this is, it doesn't really surprise me much.

And he's still able to walk? I admire your self control!
I'm afraid I'd be at least plotting a "get even" dinner, exlax in the dessert and everything he didn't like in his dinners for the next...well, until he begged my forgiveness. Thankgoodness mine gained weight along with me, although not as much.

On the serious side , the more I think about this the more upset I get. I just went on oxygen b/c it started my heart racing to the point that I couldn't get enough air. Have you checked your BP?
Glennette

Add greedy to that law and we may have something that is truely healthy for us!

Did I mention I grew up in Mississippi? I guess that they could always take the spaces that used to say "Whites Only" and fill them with "No Fatties Allowed" signs.

I'd bet that at least 1/3 of the legislature couldn't eat in a restaurant if this bill passed -- possibly 1/2 the legislature.

Wouldn't a scale and a height chart be a great interior decor item in a restaurant? I can see it now, the patrons step on a doctor's office scale then stand in front of the height chart then wait to see if a giant gong sounds followed by the announcement "Get out you big fat pig!" I suppose this could be an inducement for keeping the salt levels low -- you wouldn't want repeat customers to fail to qualify for service because they are retaining water.

Humans as 'whole' are said to be evolving.....

I say ..

we're 'de-volving'



gettting stupider....and stupider.......

~~%#$~ dumb for sure!