New Jersey’s nutrition nannies have spent the last six months justifying the state’s longstanding inferiority complex. After successfully pushing for food restrictions in school cafeterias (a stunningly ineffective way to fight childhood obesity), they recently harangued Garden State lawmakers into creating the “Office of Nutrition and Fitness” — a $2 million state agency tasked with “fighting” obesity.
What exactly does that entail? The bureaucrats and the belly bullies have been short on details (and long on panic-inducing rhetoric). But the little we do know suggests that much of the money will go towards fruits and vegetables for “eligible” citizens, nutritional report cards for school kids, and a campaign to encourage breast-feeding.
Think New Jersey might have stepped over the line with this one? You’re not alone. The editors of the local Home News Tribune have some words of wisdom for the new agency’s advocates:
New Jersey has put itself on the fast track to become the supernanny state, when in fact a people’s guardian isn’t warranted or, for that matter, even wanted … First off, state officials are dreaming if they think their admonitions or advice will keep most kids from wanting that double cheeseburger or bag of fries. Second of all, if there is some finger wagging or teaching to do, that is a job for parents to take on, not some bureaucrat in a state capital office.
