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Bans on junk food effective?

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    Dr. Richard Firshein weighs in

  • Duration 4:30
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A proposal to ban large sugary drinks in the Big Apple.

The board of health holding -- first public hearing today on that measure proposed by mayor Michael Bloomberg.

It's really just the tip of the iceberg of government efforts to fight obesity but would this kind of -- really make a difference in the battle -- the country is facing.

Doctor Richard for -- is an author and the director of the first Chinese center for comprehensive medicine here in New York City.

The idea is that you banned drinks doctorate of them -- the mayor wants the board of health in this city to do.

Banned sugary drinks larger than.

And sixteen ounces do you think it's a good idea.

Well when you start to think about how much sugar is in some of these -- yacht is an important idea that we make some steps to fight obesity.

In 116 ounce container of sugar there's over sixteen.

-- of sugar tees since sixteen teaspoons of share.

When you look at these big gulp these these large 54 rounds.

Sugary drinks they can have fifty teaspoons of sugar this is an acceptable and I don't think most people understand how serious it is.

-- what they're doing now is making a statement saying we need to start somewhere we need to educate people on the problems that we face is a nation.

The California.

School boarder school -- of those legislature in California.

Mandated that that stayed reduce the amount of junk food that -- students eat and as a result California teens are now consuming according to the study.

460 fewer calories a day.

Roughly equivalent to a small bag of potato chips clearly these kinds of efforts can help.

But it's not the the be all end all of the problem I mean parents have a role here too don't -- within the -- drone in his problem and.

With kids eat a certain amount of food in school but when you come home that's when most of the food consumption.

Actually fall in -- -- total disarray we -- to educate parents and how to.

Teacher that their children how to eat we need to make sure that people understand what the calories mean one of the studies that was done now one of the studies at John Hopkins school of public health.

They actually provided people with information that they could use.

They put up posters and they said if you eat this much food or if you -- this -- sugary drinks predict for instance one can of Coke.

You would have to exercise about an hour to burn that off and I think when they did that.

They found that there was a 50% reduction in the amount of calories that those people consume so.

If we educate people in terms of what it is exactly it is that they're consuming if we find out.

What the the ways that we can educate people are I think we can make a big difference in this -- Put in a ban on -- trans fats using trans fats to deep fried foods for instance.

According to the city restaurant trans fat use drop from about.

50%.

Of of fried products to less than 2%.

New York sort of has become -- -- the leader in this kind of thing all kinds of other states and and municipalities.

Have fallen on.

You know I.

Despite the complaints that that this is nanny government.

Right I think was ultimately going to -- tech guy is gonna make a big difference in need to ban on trans -- these are -- that are really not found in nature this is an artificial form of fat that was put into our food.

I had a certain flavor texture that food producers like but in the end it caused increase their levels of heart disease and diabetes.

This is not the kind of food that we wanna be consuming we wanna educate people not only about the things that they shouldn't be eating but also the things they should be eating more -- -- -- fruits and vegetables over how to -- -- -- then why not educate them and let them make their own choices.

Well we are doing now and I think part of this process of of actually putting it out into the public and saying.

This is the amount of sugar that's in a the container of this of soda and at that point there is a public debate we do have a chance to sit back and say well is this is something we want to do as a society or don't either a public debates about it I think people are becoming educated.

And when they hear how much sugar is actually in that you know I was in a restaurant the other day the entire.

Did for the table they were about twenty packets of sugar -- one of those little containers on the side and then you think about someone consuming.

Fifty packets -- -- -- and I don't think most people understand how much are they consuming or how difficult it is to get that shirt or off.

Once it but your body and convert converted to fat your -- take sugar turns into fat and that's how we end up in Seattle rubble were and that's doctor Richard -- shot.

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