Sugary Drinks Take Center Stage (Again)

Mayor Bloomberg is tarnishing his admirable record on nutrition by focusing on attacking sugary drinks rather than educating the public about proper nutrition.

Soda Tax Efforts

In 2009, Governor Paterson  proposed an 18% tax on sodas and sugary drinks with less than 70% juice, but he was unable to get the support he needed in the State Legislature to get his proposal enacted. Paterson attempted the tax again in 2010 with a somewhat different approach, but the result was the same. Paterson seemed to be searching for revenue and chose soda as a convenient "sin tax" target.

Paterson is likely the most progressive Governor in the history of our state, but he seems to be willing to ask the poor to fund his budget gap because the gap is so large. A soda tax would take a far larger share of income from poor and low income New Yorkers than from those more fortunate. It is a classic regressive tax, and unlike cigarette taxes, it cannot successfully be defended on the basis of a claim that soda consumption is uniquely dangerous or unhealthy.

The current Bloomberg effort is not designed to create revenue but rather to reduce obesity and calorie consumption.

As we stated in 2010:

Soda is singled out for taxation on the basis of its contribution to obesity, but candy bars, cakes, cookies, pies, and ice cream would not be affected. Can anyone argue that we should encourage New Yorkers to eat more candy bars and ice cream but drink less non-diet soda as our strategy for reducing obesity in New York? Even amongst drinks, soda is not the worst offender. Soda and orange juice have approximately the same amount of sugar. Grape juice has 70% more sugar than soda. If it is sugar consumption which we want to reduce, we should tax grape juice as well as candy bars and ice cream before we go after soda.

Now, the inconsistency and flaws related to targeting soda have returned in the Bloomberg proposal to limit the size of sugary drinks sold to the public by certain establishments.

Bloomberg Attempts to Ban Some Sales of Large Sodas

We have complimented the Mayor on his health initiatives, and we continue to see his interest in improving health statistics as genuine. But, his most recent health initiative fails the common-sense test of whether the goal and the initiative match. Bloomberg's proposal would ban the serving of any sugary sodas (but not fruit juice, milk, and other sugary beverages) of more than 16 ounces at our city's restaurants, bodegas, and other establishments. There would be no ban on serving multiple 16 ounce sugary drinks to the same person.

Not only does the ban miss 7-Eleven, Duane Reade, and Rite Aid, it misses grape juice, orange juice, and milk. It misses milk shakes, Jamba Juice, and smoothie shops. It misses donuts, ice cream, pies, cakes, candy bars, and ICEE's. It is soda-centric instead of calorie-centric or health-centric.

Instead of banning large drinks, Bloomberg should encourage education and knowledge as he did with calorie counts at restaurants. Ultimately, the public will make its choices. He can help the public make better choices by providing information and support.

The experience of Prohibition tells us how much the public will resist bans. Moreover, Bloomberg's approach will send consumers to 7-Eleven and away from other establishments.

So, Bloomberg is wrong on this one, but he should continue to advocate for better nutrition for New Yorkers (and he should stop his advocacy of the white supremacist policing strategy that has dominated his time as Mayor).

Obesity Declines in NYC Schools

For a change, there is good news regarding health and nutrition trends amongst our city's youth. Obesity has declined in our schools.

Childhood Obesity

In our country, obesity is rising far too fast. The last 20 years have resulted in a massive increase in obesity levels in the United States. In 1990, no state in the US had more than 15% of its population counted amongst the obese. Today, no state in the US has less than 20% of its population weighing enough to be considered obese.

Obesity plays a major role in harming health in our country and results in lost wages as well as reduced quality of life. Obesity shortens lives and destroys opportunities.

All of these problems are much worse for obese children.
According to the Centers for Disease Control:

• Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years.
• The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 20% in 2008. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period.
• In 2008, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.

Immediate health effects:

• Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure. In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
• Obese adolescents are more likely to have prediabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels indicate a high risk for development of diabetes.
• Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem.

Long-term health effects:

• Children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults and are therefore more at risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.
• Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk for many types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix, and prostate, as well as multiple myeloma and Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

With these horrible stats and trends as well as the horrifying impact of childhood obesity, we are excited to see NYC public schools reverse the trend toward more obesity.

Bloomberg's Calorie Count and Other Efforts

In NYC, Mayor Bloomberg has led the way on empowering consumers to make smart choices about their food by requiring chains of restaurants to list the calorie counts for their foods on their menus. Many of the most popular foods contain many more calories than most people assume. The listing of calorie counts allowed New Yorkers to take control of their nutritional lives, even when they were eating in a restaurant. There was a positive impact from the Mayor's calorie initiative.

Also, under Bloomberg, our city's schools improve nutrition, increased physical activity time, and swapped whole milk with 1 percent and skim milk in 2005. School nurses also were trained to identify kids with weight problems and to educate the community. These changes may have already started reversing the obesity trend.

Reversed Trend

For the first time, New York City public schools have seen a statistical decline in the rate of obesity amongst students.

A study of New York City public school students in kindergarten through eighth grade found obesity rates fell from 21.9 to 20.7 percent between the 2006-2007 and 2010-2011 school years.
The decline in NYC was the largest decline in childhood obesity in a large US city. NYC officials estimated that the decline experienced in our state translates into 6,500 fewer obese children in our schools.

No one is sure whether the changes implemented in 2005 have allowed our schools to reverse the trend toward higher obesity rates, but the achievement is worth studying in order to find answers. With obesity rates skyrocketing in schools and amongst adults, any decline should become a cause not just for celebration but also for scrutiny and replication.

African American Children Left Behind

White children in New York City experienced a 12.5 percent drop in obesity during the 2006 to 2011 period, Asian/Pacific Islander children (a 7.6 percent drop) and Hispanic (3.4 percent) children experienced less improvement. African American children in our city's schools did experience less obesity, but their improvement was least of all of the ethnic groups and was less than one-sixth as much improvement as was achieved by white children. African American children enjoyed only a 1.9 percent drop.

In addition, lower income areas experienced the least decline in obesity rates.

Therefore, while the areas that most needed to improve obesity rates experienced the least declines, all ethnic groups and all income levels benefited from a reduction in obesity. One of the most stubborn and terrifying public health trends of the last 20 years seems to be reversing in front of our eyes in NYC. We are all responsible for helping to continue the new trend toward better health and better lives from children in our city.

Stringer's Food Fight Continues as the Space Shuttle Lands in Manhattan

Last week, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer issued a report regarding the NYC government's barriers to the expansion of farmer's markets, and his proposed solutions deserve immediate attention. Also, Manhattan's Intrepid Museum was awarded a Space Shuttle in a highly competitive battle with museums around the country.

Scott Stringer's Food Fight for a Healthier NYC

As a follow-up to his earlier report regarding the "food deserts" in New York City, Manhattan Borough President Stringer released a report last week detailing the challenges for farmer's markets created by NYC rules and regulations, and he proposed six groups of very specific recommendations for improving access to healthy, fresh food in New York City through expansion of farmer's markets.

Specifically, the report found challenges for farmer's markets caused by local regulations including:

1) Red Tape: The permitting process for markets is decentralized, inconsistent, confusing and expensive. In some cases, a market starting in July would have to apply for permits a full seven months in advance.

2) High Cost of Entry: Permit fees are based on the number of days a market will operate for an entire season. The cost of the entire season must be paid upfront, with a single permit often exceeding $800. When combined with required insurance coverage, a market operator, in many cases, must pay over $1,300 before the market season begins in order to obtain a permit. This can be a heavy financial toll for small market operators with limited resources for whom running markets is often not their primary job.

3) Lack of Operational Procedures for Parking: Because traveling to the city for market days is expensive for farmers, free parking is critical to the success of a market. However, the Department of Transportation has no official operating procedure for requesting signage or issuing placards to reserve parking on market days. Some markets reported waiting years to receive reserved parking signage.

Stringer proposed the following six solutions:

1. Eliminate Daily Permit Fees for Markets in Low-Income Areas

2. Simplify and Clarify the Process

• Assign oversight of farmers markets to a single City entity

• Create a uniform application process

• Create a guide to operating a farmers market

3. Create Standard Procedures for Farmers Market Parking

• Department of Transportation must create a clear policy for requesting signage

• Appropriate agencies must develop farmers market parking placards

• NYPD traffic officers must be trained regarding enforcement for farmers market parking

4. Create Information and Outreach Campaign About Using Federal and State Nutrition Supports at Farmers Markets

5. Increase Access to Urban Land for Farming

• Assess land availability and suitability for urban agriculture

• Create a citywide urban agriculture program

• Ensure the permanence of community gardens

6. Increase Access to Commercial Kitchen Space

• Explore use of City-owned kitchens

• Create online portal of available kitchen space

To eliminate food deserts and improve the health of the people of New York City, we all need to follow the lead of the Manhattan Borough President and advocate for less red tape and barriers to success for farmer's markets. The fresh fruits and vegetables that are found at farmer's markets are the solution to the problems of poor nutrition and obesity in our communities.

Space Shuttle Lands in Manhattan

The people of New York City should be proud to have been awarded a Space Shuttle for display at the Intrepid Museum as the Space Shuttle program shuts down.

We asked more than a year ago for your support for this effort, and the effort was successful. Senators Gillibrand and Schumer as well as the rest of the elected officials from in and around NYC and New York State deserve enormous credit for their determination and for their willingness to cooperate on this issue.

While some individuals have criticized this achievement because the Space Shuttle selected for Manhattan never flew in space, we should be pleased. There were only four Space shuttles available to be provided to museums around the country. Houston, the headquarters of space flight in our country, was not awarded a Shuttle. Manhattan's Shuttle, Enterprise, flew test flights but never escaped our planet's atmosphere to fly in space. It has all of the same elements of any of the Space Shuttles that have been in space, and it will be an inspiration to the youth of our city to aim high and pursue careers in science and technology. Enterprise was the first Space Shuttle ever built and gave birth to all of the others.

Enterprise will create significant economic opportunity in New York City, bringing new visitors to our city and drawing nearby residents back to the Intrepid Museum.

As New Yorkers, we should be excited to obtain any Space Shuttle and share it with all who visit our great city.

Pace University Shooting Insult

Last week, police in Westchester County named the officer who killed an unarmed football star from Pace University as the officer of the year. The choice speaks volumes for the police culture in Westchester County. Killing innocent, unarmed young black men is heroic in the eyes of the police there. In reality, these killings are too frequent and are criminal.

Defeating the Health Crisis in NYC

New York City is in the midst of a health crisis, and that crisis, and entrepreneurs are launching a new service designed to fill the information gap that contributes to the crisis. Our city needs a place to turn to obtain the guidance our residents need to live longer and healthier lives.

Our Health Crisis

We wrote about our city's health crisis back in February 2009 as part of our discussion of Borough President Scott Stringer's thorough, innovative, and insightful report focused on the impact of food on the health of New York City residents.

As we stated in February, New York City is already suffering from poor health indicators and a lack of healthy food availability.

The rate of obesity and the rate of diabetes each increased 17% between 2002 and 2004 according to Stringer's Food Report. Manhattan Borough President Stringer's report also alerts us that, amazingly, most of New York City's adults are overweight or obese, and that a direct correlation has been demonstrated between the parts of New York City with the lowest levels of consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and the parts of our city that have the highest levels of obesity. Unfortunately, Upper Manhattan is near the top of the list of the areas affected by both the lack of consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and the abundance of obesity. As stated in the Borough President's report, one in six restaurants in Central Harlem and East Harlem serves fast food, while the number is only one in twenty-five restaurants on the Upper East Side. Upper Manhattan is in desperate need of greater availability of high quality fresh food, and our local Community Boards can use their land use approval authority to encourage such greater availability.

At the state level, the same lack of health creates budget pressures. New York State spends $6.1 billion on health care related to adult obesity - the 2nd highest level of spending in the nation. Obesity is a statewide epidemic with 56.7% of New York’s adults overweight or obese, and Obesity-attributable Medicaid expenditures in New York are $3.5 billion.

Knowledge Is Power

Today, R.E.A.L. Fitness & Nutrition (www.realfitnessnutrition.com) is launching its information-rich services to help New Yorkers attack the health crisis we face and to help healthy New Yorkers find ways to be even healthier. R.E.A.L. comes from Relevant Experts and Access to Local information.

Amongst its initial offerings are R.E.A.L. Deals, which list special offers, promotions, and discounts from local and national fitness and nutrition companies; R.E.A.L. Events, which is an extensive list of fitness and nutrition activities such as outdoor bootcamp classes, running programs, and healthy cooking seminars; and R.E.A.L. Experts, which showcases some of the best coaches and counselors in New York City.

R.E.A.L. produces and distributes two weekly opt-in electronic newsletters that provide consumers with the most up-to-date local fitness and nutrition information, activities, and bargains.

At Manhattan Viewpoint, we have been impressed with R.E.A.L.'s vision and its experts. We have been so convinced of the need for such services in our community, that we recently made a small financial investment in R.E.A.L. and expect the portal and newsletters to change lives in our local community.

Scott Stringer's Food Fight For Manhattan

On this Presidents' Day, we see that our local President, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, is once again the leading voice on a crucial local issue that has been overlooked by many others. This time the topic is Food.

Earlier this month, Stringer took his Food Fight to the next level by publishing his information-rich Food in the Public Interest report. http://mbpo.org/uploads/foodinthepublicinterest.pdf The report addresses the importance of food as a driver of the health of our fellow residents, and it looks carefully at our local agricultural community, its relevance, and mechanisms for protecting and strengthening the agricultural activity in and around New York City. The report also discusses hunger prevention in our city, which is particularly relevant during this period of economic stress and high unemployment. We applaud each element of the report, and we highlight for you the connection between the food that we consume as NYC residents and the quality of health we enjoy as a result.

Fat City

New York City has already shown leadership in its ban on transfats in our restaurants and in its 2008 establishment of the requirement that all restaurants with at least 15 locations nationwide post the calories contained in each item on their menus. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/17/nyregion/17calorie.html Yet, it seems that much more must be done. We are starting this food fight with the trends working against us. The rate of obesity and the rate of diabetes each increased 17% between 2002 and 2004 according to Stringer's Food Report.

Manhattan Borough President Stringer's report also alerts us that, amazingly, most of New York City's adults are overweight or obese http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/survey/survey-2005obesity.pdf, and that a direct correlation has been demonstrated between the parts of New York City with the lowest levels of consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and the parts of our city that have the highest levels of obesity. Unfortunately, Upper Manhattan is near the top of the list of the areas affected by both the lack of consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and the abundance of obesity. As stated in the Borough President's report, one in six restaurants in Central Harlem and East Harlem serves fast food, while the number is only one in twenty-five restaurants on the Upper East Side. Upper Manhattan is in desperate need of greater availability of high quality fresh food, and our local Community Boards can use their land use approval authority to encourage such greater availability.

We caution our fellow New Yorkers to remember that weight is not always a good proxy for physical health. Men and women in excellent physical condition with an abundance of muscle and very low levels of fat will often be deemed overweight or even obese based on government guidelines. http://www.consumerfreedom.com/pressrelease_detail.cfm?release=86 Will Smith and Andy Roddick would be considered overweight, and Sly Stallone and Mel Gibson would be considered obese under the current government definitions. http://www.bmiscale.com/ Each of those four celebrities should be envied in terms of their apparent physical health, but the government guidelines use only height and weight for the overweight and obese labels. Individuals with large amounts of muscle don't fit well into the guidelines.

With that caution stated, it is clear that we need to improve the overall health in all communities within NYC. Upper Manhattan includes many of the neighborhoods in our city that need the most attention and have the most work to do to achieve better health.

Recommendations

Nutrition education is a key component of overcoming the negative health trends that are affecting our city's residents. Borough President Stringer makes a number of innovative and thought-provoking recommendations in his report. The recommendations range from local actions to national policies. Amongst them:

(1) Encourage the consumption of healthy food in place of junk food
• Encourage New York City government agencies to continue reducing the amount of unhealthy and processed food served
• Encourage private and nonprofit entities to replace junk food with healthy options through grants, tenant improvement funds, tax breaks, access to low interest loans, or applicable licenses and permit processes
(2) Expand nutrition education campaigns through public service announcements, subway advertisements, etc.
(3) Develop an ongoing collaboration between nutrition experts and the city’s education and youth agencies to improve nutrition education in public schools and after-school programs
(4) Advocate for an increase in the per pupil federal reimbursement rate for school meals, which would allow for upgrades to school kitchens, improved training for staff, and the purchase of healthier unprocessed ingredients
(5) Encourage employers to promote nutrition education and healthy eating practices in the workplace by creating an online clearinghouse of information to assist employers with implementing worksite health and wellness policies
(6) Offer incentives through private insurance, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid, and Medicare, for healthy weight and lifestyles, such as coverage for gym memberships and counseling for obesity