Even zoning regulations can help fight obesity, law prof argues
Zoning could be used to bar fast-food restaurants near schools. kevin brine / Shutterstock.com
If you want to solve the obesity epidemic, don’t pin your hopes on litigation and bans on supersized soft drinks, according to Stanford University law professor Deborah Rhode.
Lawsuits over misleading marketing can be costly and subject to a political backlash, Rhode writes in an article published in the Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law. Also politically unpopular are strategies such as those supersized soft drink bans, she says. Stanford News summarizes Rhode’s article.
Rhode does see merit in public education and greater access to physical education programs and parks. Public awareness programs could be funded, she says, with additional taxes on soft drinks sweetened with sugar. Such taxes are more likely to be accepted if tied to obesity prevention, she says.
Rhode also says zoning regulations can be a tool in the obesity fight. Zoning could be used to bar fast-food restaurants near schools and encourage healthy food retailers to locate in underserved neighborhoods, she says.
Rhode also suggests additional restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy foods to children, possibly through bans on toy promotions and school advertising.
