Another waste of legislative time.

1. LD1259 will force all Maine restaurants to foot the bill for new menus and menu boards.

2. LD319 will force schools to spend the time and money to collect data that will be used for what?

3. LD1407 will force schools to go back to the way things were and send the kids out for recess. Brilliant!

I am glad to see my taxpayer dollars at work. Maine legislating morality and common sense for the last 30 yrs.

Face it - People have the information they need. They eat what they want, regardless of the consequences! Juat go to any Buffet line at noon and see who has their plates piled high! Most will be obese or overweight. I agree, spend our tax dollars on job creation.

It is unfortunate that these bills, or even this story, do not mention the federal Safe Routes to School program which provides federal funds to all 50 states to encourage children to walk and bicycle to school in an effort to reduce obesity, promote healthy exercise, decrease dependency on cars and buses, etc... Maine was projected to receive $1,000,000 from this program in FY 2009 to help resolve some of the same problems addressed by these 3 new bills. It is good that the state recognizes the obesity problem, but how unfortunate miss the link between these bills and federal money that has already awarded to the state.

This law is just a waste of time. Parents just aren't paying attention and watching over their kids anymore ... a calorie counter at a fast food joint isn't going to correct the problem.

Overwieght people are overwieght because they eat what they want when they want, seeing how many calories are in something at McDonalds is not going to change this so lets not waste the time or the money on it. As for overwieght kids why don't the parents take away the video games so they aren't sitting there for hours and stuffing their faces with junk food the whole time and make them go outside and play like I used to when I was a kid. I'm not overweight maybe cause I eat healthy and get outside and do stuff like go for a walk...

tysmom: You make some commonsense points. It is simply true that people need to be more physically active and eat healthy, or all the calorie counting information in the world will not make a difference! (or surely not any significant difference anyway.)

I think this could help some people who are already health-conscious. My dad counts all his calories, but he's also very healthy. I'm not sure if it will curve obesity, but we definitely need to deal with it somehow since the number of obese people is rapidly increasing. I worry about some of my friends who are overweight or obese - one of them, my age at 22, has already begun to develop insulin resistance and signs of early onset diabetes, as well as blackouts. Our society has been conditioned to accept it and practically advertise that being overweight is OK. I don't think anyone should ever be teased or harassed - this is purely a health issue and I don't think there's any simple solution. I think it's very social and psychological. As a country, we've had some success in curving cigarette smoking. Perhaps the same methods could be implemented to help curve obesity...make fast food more expensive/higher taxed (and the tax money would go to treating obesity-related health problems like diabetes), outlawing fast food ads in certain magazines, especially those that are targeted toward children, etc. It's driven by convenience and money. When it's no longer convenient or cheap to eat fast food, people will stop.

personally this is not going to make any changes.. it is up to the parents and let's face it kids go big and small all their childhood lives.. my son does.. he is 5ft11 and 180lbs and he is 12 YES that is what I said 12 is he obese no his doctor stated to me watch what he eats and how much he eats per day and we do...he drinks fruit juices, water and fruits and veggies and our meals we eat out once a month and our home meals are homemade and healthy.. veggies, fruits for desserts and healthy meats and things with it..

Yes they need more physical education in the schools.. i agree there.. I think it is ridiculous in elementary you have it once every two weeks...in jr. high you have it 5 weeks out of the year that is it..then you have in high school one year of it, that is it.. these kids no longer get recess in jr. high and high school.. and my son when he is home.. he walks, bike rides and has two hours of computer and well if there is something on television..he can watch it otherwise it is off.. he is very active in our community helping others works with the neighbor's horse, the mechanic up the road he is helping for the summer and bikes to the church and back for church every sunday...

So how much more active can you get? in my opinion it is the parents.. it all starts there and they are not caring or listening....i know I have seen kids in high school, elementary and jr. high way over weight and it is sad..

the parents don't have a concern to it...i can tell with what they feed them for their lunches when they come to school.. soda, cookies, candy, a sandwich if they are lucky.. but maybe mostly junk...no veggies no nothing in that packed lunched.. so i have to say parents wake up! and start with your kids...but this is not going to work at all.. good idea.. but you can lead a horse to water cannot make them drink...

What a waste of time.

These bills won't make any difference! People eat what they want. We need to go back to giving people food instead of stamps, that way there would be some control of good quality food. More children ride to school because of sex offenders. I have a grand daughter and I wouldn't let her walk to our house, 2 blocks, alone. Gym classes, a popular class to cut expense's in school. You can have all the classes you want about eating good in school but if the parents insist on buying soda and junk food, it won't do any good. I don't think there is a sensible answer to this problem. People have to take pride in themselves and do something for themselves rather than get fat and watch TV.

Next week they will pass a law how and when to punish your child.

Dumacrats at work! More tax money down the crapper for nothing.

Can't even get fat anymore!!!! Can you imagine all the conrol the government wants and we let them be.....

Think before you vote next time!!!!!

Silly, just plain silly.

People know what they're eating. Having these things posted isn't going to make a difference in what they decide to eat. Why should our government tell us how fat or skinny we should be. Just because Baldacci looks like a skinny plucked rooster doesn't mean we all should .

I agree that people are going to eat what they want to, it seems like one of the freedoms we have left. Stand behind someone using food stamps in a grocery store. -Often (not always) they are buying food which is less than healthy. Seems like Big Brother has the right to dictate what people eat when Big Brother is paying the bill-. McDonald"s doesn't take food stamps.

Outlaw the BBQ Grill!!! It smokes and produces food high in calories. Baldouchi and his cronies are morons!!! How about working on elimination of Welfare for people who don't need it! I work all day, go home for lunch and witness 4 welfare cases fishing while I have 1/2 hour to eat go back to work, while they bast in the sun like spring chickens on their new four wheelers. There is not legislature or Senetor is has the guts to deal with this! Wimps! Before I die, I will get my law degree, run for the state, and take a ride through our towns! If you have welfare benefits, you'd better be disabled, or mental! WHA!!! To top it all off, they have better insurance plans than my family has! Eliminate the burden! If you work and choose to smoke or eat foods high in calories, so be it! I'm not paying!!! People who get welfare should not be aloud to smoke or eat high calorie foods! Because I'm paying.

If we continue to leave it up to the parents the kids are going to keep getting fatter. Kids learn unhealthy eating habits from their parents. If kids see how many calories are in the stuff they are buying, it may open up conversation about why we eat the most fattening foods. I think a pretty large part of the population doesn't care about being obese and almost consider it a status symbol of what a great eater they are. Some people do pride themselves on how much food they can put away at the all you can eat buffet. We do have to reach the children somehow because healthy eating has to start at a young age. By the time young people figure out how to eat right it is too late and they are already in a lifelong battle with their weight. Anything that can be done in this area is not a waste of time and money.

"Next week they will pass a law how and when to punish your child. "

Oh, WAIT don't we already have that?

Legislating obesity, "innattentive" cow mooses (meese?) , What is the world coming to?

The problem with our system of government is the people who represent us have little real experience outside of government. What children eat is a minor factor in the obesity discussion. Of far more importance is what they do after school, before school, and on weekends and holidays.

Children are fat today (mostly) because they spend too much time in front of the TV, computer, or in their chairs at school. It is no coincidence that the obesity epidemic time line coincides with the time line for the rise of the computer.

When I was young, I lived on Chocolate malteds, Pie and Pizza. When I was 35, I still weighed 155 pounds at six feet tall. Anyone who knew me then knows why, I was a constant ball of motion.

Real help would come from ending school bus pick-ups within a mile of school. Having summer programs for children which were heavy on camping, fishing, hiking, and sports. Don't tell me the children will rebel, because I've been taking willing children camping for over 40 years. They love it, and after some initial complaining the first time, they keep asking when we will go again.

Want thinner children? send them to where there is no electricity or cell bars in this summer. Better yet, get off your fat butts and take them yourself!

video games computers ,texting.thats why the kids are over weight ,not the calories ,kids dont exercise you hardly see any of them out playing any more,ok sure it isnt as safe outside as it used to be,but theres safety in numbers.a sad mess.peace

I aagree 100% that this is a silly law and a waste of resources. I also agree that children are generally much too inactive, as are most of their parents. What I don't agree on is why so many are obese today. Nowhere in the postings did anyone mention growth hormones in all of our meat, or the fact that many of the chemicals we are exposed to in everyday life break down into hormone-like byproducts. No one talked about the additives in every bite of food we take in America. Nor was there any mention of the rise in breast and testicular cancer in young people. Wake up guys; what we shove in our mouths may not be as important as what is lurking in our food.

busymominmaine207 who are you trying to convince do you have a guilt complex perhsps your obese son is eating the wrong foods when you are not there. that is what addicts do

I guess I'm in the minority because I feel that these bills could be quite helpful. As a parent, and a weight conscious adult, I feel that if I can look at a menu and quickly see what the nutritional facts are it would absolutely make a difference in my choice for myself, and my children. I also feel that tracking BMI figures could be a useful tool in fighting what is now an epidemic. But that's just me!

Way to take the responsibility away from the people! If someone is fat or obese.. its there own fault most of the time! Wow... cant even believe they have a bill for this!

Just imagine how great our beaches and parks are going to be with no smokers and fat chicks.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL....Legislating eating habits....LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Next thing they'll try to legislate pot smokiing

You can tell people how to eat healthy until their "blue in the face" but they will not change until they are ready to change. The fact that most people that are overweight probably do not even know what's in that fast food crap that they are eating. They DO NOT need to post caloric content information. They need to define what each ingredient is and why it is in the food.

If you are going to a restaraunt planning to eat healthy, then order a garden salad and hold the dressing. I'm gonna have a 16 oz sirlion rare, loaded baked potato, bread with garlic butter, a few bears and maybe follow up with a cordial. Just wish I could light up right there when I was done, now I can't even do that even if I eat on the patio. If I want to eat healthy, I know enough to stay home.

Why don't we just post nutrition police at the checkout line at the grocery store too? They can put you and your kids on a scale right there, and if you don't meet "government standards", they can take away anything they deem is unhealthy for you. Maybe they could charge you with child endagerment, and send you to a re-education camp.

Laugh if you want, but this nonsense just gets more and more rediculous everyday, it is really not that hard to imagine that in 50 years, by law our grocery store's will only contain what a handful of people think we should eat.

Oh yesh, one more thing, why is it that only chain restaraunts are affected by this bill? Could it be because many of our legistators own small food related businesses and they don't want to pay the added cost of caloric research and printing new menu's themselves? How many pizza joints are there in this state anyway? Why are they excluded?

My wife and I eat and snack healthy at home and at work....when we occassionally go out to eat (which will probably be even less now thanks to recent legislation and increased costs, thanks Gov) anyhow when we go out I eat things that we do not eat at home and work and paying attention to how "healthy" foods are we just do not even think about it...it is our time to be rebellious and just eat!!

Some generally good comments. The point that's not made, though, is that obesity affects all of us. It's a major reason why health costs keep going through the roof. Every obese person (just like every smoker) makes us pay more for health insurance. I don't hold it against a person if they want to eat too much or smoke. I just don't like paying for their bad habits.

I'm going to submit 2 statements - one about a gay person, and the other about an obese person.

Steve, that's totally lame. Should we start killing all the people with congenital birth defects that require a lifetime of high health costs? or the ones predisposed to high cholesterol no matter how healthy a lifestyle they live? and HOLY COW let's not even talk about those kids with juvenille diabetes! Steve the personal freedoms and rights we were all born with, as Americans, are not for sale at any price. If you would propose legislating all behavior because it's cheaper you live in the wrong country.

"If we continue to leave it up to the parents the kids are going to keep getting fatter."

Can you believe that we live in a time where people are advocating that the government needs to raise our children?

Good point, SteveCB. Obesity = slow motion suicide, just like smoking and, possibly, drinking, and similarly, it's fun while you're doing it!

I'd rather sit next to a gay person on a bus than an obese person.

"The point that's not made, though, is that obesity affects all of us. It's a major reason why health costs keep going through the roof."

While I agree overall, believing that the government should do X in order to promote behavior changes (because, after all, if affects all of us)............ only opens the door to government "promoting" all kinds of behavior changes.

You name it. What if operating a bicycle is statistically more likely to "affect society" or "cost society" more than walking or taking the train? Should the government impose a $5000 tax on bicycles so that the "users" end up "paying into the system" for the harm that they are causing to society?

Personally, I don't think our State or Federal governments have shown enough repsonsibility or wisdom to reasonably finance a trip to the zoo, much less raise our children or direct all aspects of our lives.

I'd rather sit next to an obese person on a bus than a gay person.

Democrats...................

Obesity! Start by curbing our tax money, through the food stamp program, being used to buy junk food and drinks. When it should be used to buy nutritious foods to be prepared at home.

boogyman: regarding 11:20am RIGHT ON! Couldn't have said it plainer myself.

SteveCB: you must be great to have around at parties and social events...*EYEROLL*

If only the government could control what comes OUT OF people's mouths as much as they are trying to control what goes in!!

obesity isn't always caused by over eating, there are other factors. Its not the only thing making health care costs higher, what about drug abuse? Alcohol abuse, smoking, stupid stunts by inattentive drivers, using cell phones while driving, or watching a movie,or putting on makeup.

Dave say it isn't so?????LOL..

RIDICULOUS!

I wonder how many of these people complaining about this voted for the same people that are in office today. How many are going to vote the same people in again? The issue in not dietary, the issue is governmental.

Big waste of time. While he is at it he could sign a bill to curb Baldness.

Seward....what to heck is wrong with being bald!! I resemble that remark...:)

Meanwhile, unemployment soars & the Augustanites do nothing to create jobs. What a pathetic waste of time.

I think the obesity will be CURED by the starvation from being jobless. Sometimes there's a silver lining in every cloud.

Has anyone else found out that the Obama guy should be singing, dancing, making movies, or picking vegetables.... and, not leading anything, yet? And Maine has a clone....Baldassi.

David889327........Obese people and Gay people seem to have something in common.....I know both and have to say at least they seem happy......

But still want to sign the petition!

A 1/2 recess in the morning and a h our lunch hour with the 15 minute recess in the afternoon would be the answer to several problems.Lots of running and playing on the playground would take care of obesity. and ADHD. the longer school day would also help parents with before and after school daycare.

No Leumas, I've found quite the contrary to be true but then I have a 3-digit IQ.

robpott ...,i have heard the state passed a law that you cannot correct your own child ....it is considered CHILD ABUSE .... that is whats wrong with this world today... you cannot correct them and its ashame ....my parpnts had me ,paid the hospital bill and they corrected me and now they cant and see how much trouble some are causind and they are getting into....i was grounded some for my punishment or sent to my room and they didnt have to slap me or beat the crap out of me i HAD RESPECT FOR MY PARENTS .... harley 07 you got that right.......we will be getting taxed for doing that next ....you better believe i will we need to get rid of most of the people at augusta and start fresh on a lot of them .....instead of making all of the menus up on calories and that stuff i think they should look in their oun front yard and stop worrying about us its our life not theirs .......i will do what when i want and he isnt going to change my mind ....he didnt pay for me when i was born and i thought you only had 1 set of parents now you have baldacci running your life well he wont run mine ! ! ! ! east mainer i agree with you.....baldacci drinks for his meals he doesnt eat much ....you noticed he has taxed gas tabacco AND NOT ALCOHOL YET THERE IS SOMETHING HE SHOULD LOOK INTO HE DOESNT WANT TO DO THAT IT WOULD COST HIM OR THE STATE HOUSE MORE MONEY ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! THE JUDE I LIKE YOUE COMMENT THAT IS VERY TRUE..... outlaw i agree with you also that is whats wrong with the kids today when i was growing up we didnt have what they have today......hey SpecialEd i have something for you i am a smoker and a little heavy and you know what i say to that if you dont like it dont look turn the other way or get out if you see any of us comming ! ! ! !im going to live the way i want !and nobody can cahnge my mind and for you supposedly skinny people stinks to be you .....leumas i agree 100% its true.....

i was to my drs and it could be health related so it isnt all we eat ....thyroid stress cancalso cause it being big boned so it isnt all related to junk food !

we so po'- all weez can afford to eat now is mickay d's. corporate america full speed ahead! how much time and human lives can we waste for our spending?

Lets do the math here. Maine leaders has tax payers pay ing for computers and online services for kids so they can sit around and do nothing. Now they take tax payers money to fight against kids from being overweight from sitting around and do nothing.

How about just making people pay a fine for being over weight and fine the tax payers who can't afford to eat for being under weight for having to pay for all this stupid tax dollar wasting laws. leumas is right and thanks for saying so I feel to weak to say the same it wasn't my turn to eat this week.

Thought this was a joke at first...Yep,I was right...

Take your STate BACK people! Tired of BS bills and big brother jamming his face in your life??? Vote these people out of office. It is not the other countys rep doing this garbage. It is your representatives that are doing it right along with mine. We are laying off people, freezing pay and yet we wast our time and money on this........ When do you all decide to wriote your representatives rather than cry in the liberal BDN?

pretty soon the government will control how much oxygen you take in, and charge you for every time you take a WIFF, problem is that the government is to big, let cut down on what they can do and everytime Baldacci want something , he will have to vote for it. I wonder how many burger kings and french fries he eats? And how much beer he drinks, That liberal jerk

Cut down on your carbs. Ban Mamma Baldacci's. ;-)