Unbelievable.

This ranks as one of the most ridiculous bills ever.

How can one relate to the stupidity.of it?

I wonder if Mississippi is prepared for the ensuing lawsuits.

I hope the KHSD board doesn't hear about it, they'll jump all over this one.

Imagine, no lunch for chubby kids, Rottweillers sniffing for Twinkies and the fattest ones tranferred to a bootcamp-like school for the obese where there's no cafeteria or vending machines and no sit-down desks and students do pushups and jumping jacks all day during class. 

Keep the government out of my kitchen, my bedroom, my life!!!   I am totally fed up with this type of wasting time and resources on this type of stupid, ineptitude, while our borders are left open and penetrable.

While the Code Pink Banshees are screeching in Berkeley, against the very people who have fought and died for their "priveledge" of shrieking, we have idiot politicians making life hell for the obese.  Swell.

emily, I am surprised that you are surprised. More is on the way.

 That's too funny! Most restaurants would more than likely go broke because hey, those who are health food conscious usually eat at home.  Since it would be illegal to feed the obese would they pay someone who's thin to buy the food for them like some underage kids do to get alcohol? I agree with hibowden, keep the government out of my kitchen, my bedroom, my life!

I wish someone would introduce a bill that made it mandatory that restaurants provide a child's size meal for anyone that requests one.  

Sometimes the portions that are served to me in a restaurant are daunting.  So daunting in fact,  that I almost lose my appetite at the idea of trying to eat everything on my plate.   I come from a generation that emphasized not wasting anything.  So it's still hard for me to walk away from uneaten (expensive) food.   However, I'm at a age where I can't eat as much as I did in my 30's, and 40's. 

As soon as my grandson gets a little older,  I will order a child's plate for him and a regular meal for me then swich the plates.  

Don't suggest Senior Meals because they are also too big.  A child's plate is just the right size for me.  However, they need a more fruits and vegetables and less carbs and meat.

I read an article in the BC the other day that said a child's plate IS THE RIGHT PORTION SIZE.  It's the amount of food that people used to eat before restaurants and fast food joints started to SUPER SIZE America.   When I was young, in the 1960's, most people were thin.  We have gradually gotten fatter and fatter.   McDonalds, Burger King, Carl's Jr,  KFC,  Taco Bell, and Wendy's can take a large share of the blame.

I certainly believe this is discrimination, and I agree with Ms. Hagerdon's wondering of how the determination of obese would be made in the restaurant.  BMI varies depending on a variety of factors, and some persons carry their weight better than others.  What if one member of the family is considered obese and the others aren't, is the whole family banned from the restaurant?  If a meal at the restaurant is considered healthy for a thin person, what makes the same meal unhealthy for an overweight person?  Some people that are blessed or exercise harder for an increased metabolism are able to burn off more calories, so the same restaurant meal affects each person differently.  I do not support mandates on restaurants to make their foods healthier, either, because the consumer has the choice to eat or not eat at the restaurant, and this will dictate what the restaurant will serve.  I rarely eat at restaurants now because I have greater control over home cooked foods' calorie and fat content, but I certainly enjoy the company of family and friends when I do go out.  I control portion sizes by sharing my meal with at least one other person which also saves money.  Lastly, just because a person is obese does not mean he or she is not a pleasant dining companion!

Audrey B says: "We have gradually gotten fatter and fatter. McDonalds, Burger King, Carl's Jr,  KFC,  Taco Bell, and Wendy's can take a large share of the blame."

Sorry, Audrey.

Obesity, sans some rare systemic disorder, is clearly the result of personal choice.

It is remarkable that so many are so quick to blame restaurants, especially the large fast food chains for America's obesity, when McDonalds, etal, are no more responsible for patrons' personal quantity choices than the proverbial man in the moon.

Obesity is the simple symptomatic result of overeating.

It's a simple equation. High caloric intake equals weight gain. The more you eat the larger you get.

A restaurant diner may not control the portions served, but indeed controls the portions consumed.

When served large quantities one has the option to eat a sensible amount and take the balance home for later consumption.

You know, a "doggie box" for lunch tomorrow?

Many of us came from the clean your plate era when mom and dad decided what and how much a child should eat and "don't leave anything on the plate because the starving kids in China aren't as lucky to have that slice of liver"

"Really, then can we send it to them?" I would stubbornly retort.

"Don't be a wise guy,"  they'd say.

"But I have to go to the bathroom, I'd angle.

"You sit there until you eat it all or you get no dessert," they would decree.

Of course, they were only doing what they thought was right and sometimes, although we didn't know it then, it made sense.

I ended up eating a lot of foods including healthful vegetables that I learned later to love despite then wanting to to puke them up on the spot.

But often, I was expected to singly consume enough food to nourish a family of five.

Today's alarming rate of childhood obesity might indeed be the ensuing result of that mindset.

Demonizing "fast" food restaurants or the slower others for the nation's lack of dietary discipline and eating disorders seems to be popular activity these days for conspiracy theorists and those who buy into the BS who are all too eager to place blame on others for one's individual failure to make responsible personal choices. The fallacy is akin to blaming guns for shooting rather than the people pulling the triggers.

The common sense fact is, restaurants simply serve the food, they don't ram it down your throat.

We're adults now. Mom is no longer making us clean the plate so we can get that big slab of double chocolate cake afterward.

No one is forced to order the triple burger, super size cola or eat the oily french fries. Those are personal choices. Even the evil McDonald's serves an array of healthy choices like the salads mom used to threaten you with dire consequences to get you to eat.

AudryB inexplicably adds: "As soon as my grandson gets a little older, I will order a child's plate for him and a regular meal for me then swich the plates."

LOL. Making the swithcheroo and giving the kid the biggie size sounds like more mom redux. Hope you don't make him eat it all.

Wait a minute, if a child's portion contains the "RIGHT" or proper quantity of food for an adult, then what about ordering two child's portions?

After reading the bill I believe this can be read differently than is being reported. I believe this will be more impact on all you can eat  buffets and schools. Why? Well with the recent news of Mississippians being the most over weight state MCOPM may make recommendations to Dept of Health on 41-3-15 for all you can eat buffets and school diets. When MCOPM was establish  their main job was to consult about obesity and other health issues to the state and the cost to the state and to make recommendations about children's diets and exercise especially in schools.

So it is possible this bill will have some amount of  recommendations by MCOPM to the Dept of Health for eating establishments offering buffets to deny or to limit amount for grossly or morbidly obese persons.  Now is this discrimination? Don't know. Stranger things has happened as Americans move towards being healthy and insurance company's pushing health. Don't be surprised that Mississippi Blue Cross Blue Shield is not behind this bill. Huh you say? Well MB-BS  has pushed their covered company's to be a healthy environment by recommending snack machines and soda machines be pulled and offer fruit and veggies and offer diet sodas and healthy drinks and juices. Now for those whom are just over weight and their doctor is on their rears about their weight it's possible there may be a small amount of recommendations concerning all you can eat buffets.

 Also I do not believe that MCOPM can standardize a BMI (Body Mass Index) for eating establishments but can make a determination to the Dept. of Health to have a BMI standard for schools. This can be achieved by school health care or family doctors to determine BMI on children and make recommendations for school diets along with exercise( already in place).

Although Read did not expect the bill to pass and being over weight himself may have inadvertently spark a trend to turn the news around on Mississippians and obesity and it's a good  possibility that the bill will stay till challenged in court, but knowing that MCOPM has determine the cost of obesity to the state it is a good possibility that this bill will not get revoked just yet. So is this a good thing? Is a start for a change? Who knows but those who knows they are in a serious health threat.

So I'm not worried how the bill reads after reading it now, but those who are in true danger may find that getting all you can eat will be harder to come by. I know that I sound indifferent or insensitive but I am not, I do feel bad for those who are morbidly obese and wish the best for them when they are ready to loose weight , but it is not up to anyone but that person when they are ready to loose weight. For myself? I have made a decision to stop smoking using Chantix and exercising to lose at least 30 pounds to get back to 200. By the way my BMI for 6'1" ? 190...LMAO... ain't no way I would be skin and bones.

Mississippi buffet owners can rejoice with the passage of this bill.

They will no longer have to squirm and serve those 400 pounders who show up for a feeding session that coulld erase the day's profit.

Instead all they need do is essentially say 'hit the road fatso, I'm not allowed by law to serve you.'

I wonder will they weigh people at the restaurant door for compliance with health department standards of obesity?

Saber

I tried to order a child's meal from the drive through at Los Hermanos on Rosedale once.  They almost refused to give it to me.  I lied and told them it was for my grandchild.  That lie made me feel awful (like a criminal) and I shouldn't have been put in that position.

I thought I was going to have to go over my daughters house and get my grandson (two months old) as evidence before they would give me a meal.  They asked me why I wasn't getting an adult meal too?  None of their fricking business.

I finally got the dinner (given to me very ungraciously) but decided I would never ask for a kids meal again. 

THATS why I want a law making it mandatory to give anyone who wants one, a kids meal. 

Audrey, back in the day, I could kill a buffet without so much as an ounce of weight gain.

Today, all I have to do is look at one and my jeans won't fit.