In an effort to curb obesity, the New York City Department of Health launched a print campaign (pdf) back in August asking “Are you pouring on the pounds?” This week, they followed up with the release of a “stomach-churning Internet video in which a man is shown guzzling a tumbler of liquefied fat”.

Needless to say, that was a pretty disgusting ad, but is it misleading?

As the American Beverage Association states in its response to one of the many criticisms of their products, “If the goal is to reduce obesity among New Yorkers, then this public education campaign should be based in fact, not simply sensationalized video that inaccurately portrays our industry's products - products that are fat-free."

So why is the NYC Health Department so hell-bent on getting people to decrease their soda intake?

According to the NYC Health Department,  "over half of adult New Yorkers are overweight (34%) or obese (22%) and nearly half of all elementary school children (43%)... are overweight or obese". In addition to that, another report found that Americans today  "consume an average of 200 to 300 more calories each day than we did 30 years ago. Nearly half of that increase comes from sugar-sweetened drinks which can pack as many as 16 teaspoons of sugar in a single 20-ounce bottle". That's a lot of empty calories.

But should government have any role in what goes into your kitchen? A couple of months ago, we had a discussion on that very topic:

Sugary drinks are bad for you, but what about diet drinks? In the press release cited earlier, the American Beverage Association states that “Balancing calories consumed with calories burned…is the only generally proven approach to maintaining a healthy diet. Further, the beverage industry provides an array of beverages with a wide range of calories, including zero calories." That makes sense, except that the usefulness of artificial sweeteners in losing weight is still heavily debated. According to the LA Times, "Research has shown that drinking an artificially sweetened beverage can whet the appetite and stimulate people to eat more in a subsequent meal -- an effect not seen when people drink a sugared beverage or glass of water before eating. It suggests that artificial sweeteners may turn on brain areas that create appetite, but not provide satiation."

In October we had Dr. David Kessler, former FDA commissioner and author of "The End of Overeating" on our program. He discussed how sugar, fat and salt encourage us to overeat.

Do you applaud the New York City ad or do you think it's inappropriate?

For more programs on food: 

The Debate: Foodie Nation - Going gourmet: Part I of our look at food. What our refined palate means to our health, our farms, and our culture.

The Debate: Taking Control of the Insatiable North American Appetite - A heavy burden. Weighing the costs of an obese society.