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Government Joins Battle Against Obesity

Aired May 13, 2003 - 15:13   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: The federal government is joining the battle against obesity with a special focus on fast food restaurants. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson says restaurants should put more healthy choices on their menus and they should urge customers to exercise more often. Thompson says Americans need all the encouragement they can get.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMMY THOMPSON, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: First off, what we have to do is convince them to start watching what they eat. They'll be much healthier -- and to exercise. And then we're asking the fast food industry and all of the restaurants to start looking at their menus and see if they can diversify and put some healthier foods on there and help to promote them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Critics say burgers and fries are not solely to blame. They say it's up to individuals to make healthy choices for themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SIMMONS, FITNESS EXPERT: People have been frying foods since Jesus was on this planet, and there's always going to be greasy, fried, salty, sugary food. It is up to the individual to walk in and say, I don't want those fries today. I have 40 pounds to lose. It is not the fault of the fast food people, and anyone who is trying to sue the fast food places needs a therapist, not an attorney.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: With me now to talk more about American eating habits and what if any role the government should have in this debate, James Glassman, of the American Enterprise Institute. Also the host of techcentralstation.com. And Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Thank you all both very much.

Margo, let me start with you. As far as what Tommy Thompson is saying, as far as what the government is saying, too much, too little, just right?

MARGO WOOTAN, CENTER FOR SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST: Well, it's great that he's asking restaurants to serve healthier options and to provide better nutrition information. But I think it's going to take more than him just asking. A number of states have now introduced legislation to require fast food and other big chain restaurants to list calories right on the menu or menu board. Because, right now, even if you want to make healthier choices in restaurants, you don't have the information you need in order to do that.

CROWLEY: James, I'm figuring that you probably don't want the government forcing restaurants and fast food places to tell us what's in what they have.

JAMES GLASSMAN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Well, I think it's up to the restaurants. You know McDonald's has been doing this since the early '70s. McDonald's offers salads. They have a new premium salad program. They provide tremendous amount of nutritional information. They encourage exercise.

You know, we don't need -- these companies don't need help from the government in doing this. They are already doing it because they are responding to consumers, and consumers are smart. Americans aren't dumb.

It is not easy to lose weight or keep your weight at the right level. And I think Richard Simmons had it exactly right. It's a question of a personal responsibility. And when the government gets involved, and when these lawyers get involved, that essentially absolves people of personal responsibility. And you need to make these decisions on your own.

CROWLEY: Well there are very few people, Margo, that would doubt that government efforts against tobacco and against cigarette smoking and the advertisements they ran, some of the laws that were passed locally, has cut down on smoking. Do you think the government should go that far when it comes to overeating? To look at restaurants and menus and begin to reward those that serve healthy meals, punish those that don't? What?

WOOTAN: Public policy did help a lot with tobacco. It helped people to quit. Most people wanted to quit and the policies that were put in place helped them to do that.

Same thing with food. We're not talking about ripping cheeseburgers out of people's hands. Just providing them with better information so they can make informed choices in the restaurants.

The government already requires processed food manufacturers to list nutrition information on packaged foods. There's no reason why that law shouldn't be extended to fast food and other chain restaurants so people can have similar information when they are eating out. And it's not always obvious.

A sirloin steak has a third of the calories of a porterhouse stake. You know everybody knows that French fries aren't as good as the vegetable of the day, but they might not expect them to have 10 times as many calories.

CROWLEY: James, let me go to you and ask you -- I'm sure you probably don't argue with the fact that people on their own, at least, should quit smoking. Isn't there some social responsibility when there are all of these diseases that are pressuring the health care system and costing the public a lot of money? Should there not be some punitive government action or some encouraging government action to kind of cut down on what's hurting those who don't have this problem?

GLASSMAN: I think it's perfectly fine for the government to provide information. The government should do a better job of it. But it's not easy.

For example, the government has been saying for 30 or 40 years that people should exercise more. And, by the way, that is really the key to holding your weight down. But people aren't doing it. It is a question of will power.

And what I worry about is, with these crazy lawsuits, with this new political intervention we're seeing, this crazy thing happening in California with Oreo cookies, trying to get rid of Oreos off the shelves, you are essentially sending a message to Americans. We're saying, you're not smart enough or you don't have enough will power to make these decisions yourself, and so we'll make them for you.

WOOTAN: Will power hasn't changed in the last 20 years?

GLASSMAN: That is clogging the arteries of what I think is a very important discussion about information.

WOOTAN: Will power hasn't changed in the last 20 years, while obesity rates have doubled and tripled, depending on whether it's kids or adults. What has changed is that there is food everywhere. The portion sizes are huge.

GLASSMAN: Well there was not food everywhere before? This is like a new invention, food?

WOOTAN: Actually, the number of calories available in the food supply has increased dramatically by about 500 calories a day.

CROWLEY: I've got to stop you all. I promise I'll have you back. I am afraid that I'm going to have a waitress who says, hello, I'm Mary, have you exercised today?

GLASSMAN: Not a bad idea.

CROWLEY: But thank you very much. James Glassman of AEI and Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, we'll have you back.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 13, 2003 - 15:13   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: The federal government is joining the battle against obesity with a special focus on fast food restaurants. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson says restaurants should put more healthy choices on their menus and they should urge customers to exercise more often. Thompson says Americans need all the encouragement they can get.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMMY THOMPSON, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: First off, what we have to do is convince them to start watching what they eat. They'll be much healthier -- and to exercise. And then we're asking the fast food industry and all of the restaurants to start looking at their menus and see if they can diversify and put some healthier foods on there and help to promote them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Critics say burgers and fries are not solely to blame. They say it's up to individuals to make healthy choices for themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SIMMONS, FITNESS EXPERT: People have been frying foods since Jesus was on this planet, and there's always going to be greasy, fried, salty, sugary food. It is up to the individual to walk in and say, I don't want those fries today. I have 40 pounds to lose. It is not the fault of the fast food people, and anyone who is trying to sue the fast food places needs a therapist, not an attorney.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: With me now to talk more about American eating habits and what if any role the government should have in this debate, James Glassman, of the American Enterprise Institute. Also the host of techcentralstation.com. And Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Thank you all both very much.

Margo, let me start with you. As far as what Tommy Thompson is saying, as far as what the government is saying, too much, too little, just right?

MARGO WOOTAN, CENTER FOR SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST: Well, it's great that he's asking restaurants to serve healthier options and to provide better nutrition information. But I think it's going to take more than him just asking. A number of states have now introduced legislation to require fast food and other big chain restaurants to list calories right on the menu or menu board. Because, right now, even if you want to make healthier choices in restaurants, you don't have the information you need in order to do that.

CROWLEY: James, I'm figuring that you probably don't want the government forcing restaurants and fast food places to tell us what's in what they have.

JAMES GLASSMAN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Well, I think it's up to the restaurants. You know McDonald's has been doing this since the early '70s. McDonald's offers salads. They have a new premium salad program. They provide tremendous amount of nutritional information. They encourage exercise.

You know, we don't need -- these companies don't need help from the government in doing this. They are already doing it because they are responding to consumers, and consumers are smart. Americans aren't dumb.

It is not easy to lose weight or keep your weight at the right level. And I think Richard Simmons had it exactly right. It's a question of a personal responsibility. And when the government gets involved, and when these lawyers get involved, that essentially absolves people of personal responsibility. And you need to make these decisions on your own.

CROWLEY: Well there are very few people, Margo, that would doubt that government efforts against tobacco and against cigarette smoking and the advertisements they ran, some of the laws that were passed locally, has cut down on smoking. Do you think the government should go that far when it comes to overeating? To look at restaurants and menus and begin to reward those that serve healthy meals, punish those that don't? What?

WOOTAN: Public policy did help a lot with tobacco. It helped people to quit. Most people wanted to quit and the policies that were put in place helped them to do that.

Same thing with food. We're not talking about ripping cheeseburgers out of people's hands. Just providing them with better information so they can make informed choices in the restaurants.

The government already requires processed food manufacturers to list nutrition information on packaged foods. There's no reason why that law shouldn't be extended to fast food and other chain restaurants so people can have similar information when they are eating out. And it's not always obvious.

A sirloin steak has a third of the calories of a porterhouse stake. You know everybody knows that French fries aren't as good as the vegetable of the day, but they might not expect them to have 10 times as many calories.

CROWLEY: James, let me go to you and ask you -- I'm sure you probably don't argue with the fact that people on their own, at least, should quit smoking. Isn't there some social responsibility when there are all of these diseases that are pressuring the health care system and costing the public a lot of money? Should there not be some punitive government action or some encouraging government action to kind of cut down on what's hurting those who don't have this problem?

GLASSMAN: I think it's perfectly fine for the government to provide information. The government should do a better job of it. But it's not easy.

For example, the government has been saying for 30 or 40 years that people should exercise more. And, by the way, that is really the key to holding your weight down. But people aren't doing it. It is a question of will power.

And what I worry about is, with these crazy lawsuits, with this new political intervention we're seeing, this crazy thing happening in California with Oreo cookies, trying to get rid of Oreos off the shelves, you are essentially sending a message to Americans. We're saying, you're not smart enough or you don't have enough will power to make these decisions yourself, and so we'll make them for you.

WOOTAN: Will power hasn't changed in the last 20 years?

GLASSMAN: That is clogging the arteries of what I think is a very important discussion about information.

WOOTAN: Will power hasn't changed in the last 20 years, while obesity rates have doubled and tripled, depending on whether it's kids or adults. What has changed is that there is food everywhere. The portion sizes are huge.

GLASSMAN: Well there was not food everywhere before? This is like a new invention, food?

WOOTAN: Actually, the number of calories available in the food supply has increased dramatically by about 500 calories a day.

CROWLEY: I've got to stop you all. I promise I'll have you back. I am afraid that I'm going to have a waitress who says, hello, I'm Mary, have you exercised today?

GLASSMAN: Not a bad idea.

CROWLEY: But thank you very much. James Glassman of AEI and Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, we'll have you back.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com