Soda: The Cigarette for America's Youth

The fight against obesity has become one of the many battles within the US. People are fatter and are eating worse than they ever have before. Why is this? I agree with Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City, when he says soda is a major cause of obesity in recent years. Since the explosion of soft drinks in the early 20^th century the average weight of humans has skyrocketed.

                There is no arguing that soda is bad for you. The amount of sugars, along with the amount of acids, make soda very harmful to the human body. This is much like cigarettes and other tobacco products, which have been regulated by the US government. How is soda any different? I believe Bloomberg is well within his rights to try to control the sale of soda to protect America’s youth from something that is harmful. And this is where I think the YouTube video is wrong. Bloomberg is not trying to “force” anyone to do something he is just simply trying to protect the people of New York from obesity, which later leads to worse problems.

                I have been off soda for two years now and have many personal experiences that allow me to see what soda really does to your body. Before I went off of soda I would often have 3-5 sodas a week which doesn't really seem like that much. Then for lent of 2011 I gave it up, and it was a very good decision. After Easter, and lent was over I continued to not drink soda just because I wanted to see how long I could go without it. I suddenly began to realize that I was slowly losing weight and I didn't really know why. I was excited to see this happening and tried to figure out why this was, and the only thing that I can think of was not drinking soda. After the following summer I had lost 46 lbs and could not have felt better. The caffeine found in soda is considered a drug and actually is a depressant. This means that soda actually affects the mood of the user not only their body, which is just one more reason that I believe it should be regulated for the youth of America and the world. And Bloomberg is on the right track with his new bill on soda bans.