Wide waistbands mirror wide income gaps.
by Sam Pizzigati
New York City's billionaire mayor wants to ban super-sized sodas and other sugar-packed drinks.
Some 58 percent of New Yorkers, explains Mayor Michael Bloomberg, currently rate as either overweight or obese. Their excess pounds are driving up the city's health care costs, he argues, and even putting their lives in jeopardy.
"Obesity will kill more people than smoking in the next couple of years," Bloomberg says.
Maybe so, his critics counter, but banning soda pop won't end obesity. Bloomberg's ban, they contend, would be unenforceable. And why pick on soft drinks?