Indeed. Also, why not do the same that worked before with big tobacco? Ban soft drink sport sponsorships. Ban advertisement of high sugar/hfcs foods to children. Add surgeon general notes to junk foods.
Health consequences are paid by the rest of society, in one way or another. Nurses say hospitals are filled with obese patients. It's getting out of control.
Or just add a calorie tax. That would pretty effectively do the trick. Would negligibly affect the cost of low-calorie-density food, but boy that soda and/or butter becomes expensive.
That'd be great way to establish a regressive tax. Luxury foods don't have more calories than cheap ones so as a percentage of cost cheap food prices would increase more. Not to mention that percentage of income spent on food for low income people is much higher than % of income spent on food by rich people.
Then add: a more aggressive earned income tax, a more generous child tax credit, or a guaranteed minimum income (or some kind of hybrid plan). If the problem is that some people can't afford things, attack that problem directly.
Legally guaranteeing that parents can put their 26-year-olds on their family healthcare plan is also regressive (it doesn't help uninsured families), but that didn't stop it from being enacted.
Health consequences are paid by the rest of society, in one way or another. Nurses say hospitals are filled with obese patients. It's getting out of control.