Assessing Laws and Legal Authorities for Obesity Prevention and Control

Mensah G. A. Goodman R. A. , “Law as a Tool for Preventing Chronic Diseases: Expanding the Range of Effective Public Health Strategies,” Preventing Chronic Disease, 1 no. 1 (2004): 1–8.

Moulton A. D. Gottfried R. N. , “What Is Public Health Legal Preparedness?” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 31 no. 4 (2003): 372–383.

Benken D. E. Reynolds M. A. , and Hunter A. S. , “Proceedings of the National Summit on Legal Preparedness for Obesity Prevention and Control,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 37 no. 2, Supplement (2009): 5–6.

Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905).

Gostin L. O. , Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint, 2nd ed. (Berkeley and Los Angeles: Milbank Memorial Fund and University of California Press, 2008).

National Conference of State Legislatures, “Childhood Obesity – 2005 Update and Overview of Policy Options,” available at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/ChildhoodObesity-2005.htm (last visited February 25, 2009).

National Conference of State Legislatures, “Vending Machines in Schools,” available at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/vending.htm (last visited February 25, 2009).

See National Conference of State Legislatures, “Access to Healthy Food,” available at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/publichealth/foodaccess/index.htm (last visited February 25, 2009).

New York State Restaurant Association v. New York City Bd. of Health, 2008 WL 1777479 (S.D.N.Y. 2008).

Flegal K. M. Graubard B. I. Williamson D. F. , and Gail M. H. , “Cause-Specific Excess Deaths Associated with Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity,” JAMA, 298 no. 17 (2007): 2028–2037.

Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, Public Law 110–234 (2008).

Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, Public Law 107–171, 116 Stat. 134 (2002).

Herman D. R. Harrison G. G. Afifi A. A. , and Jenks E. , “Effect of a Targeted Subsidy on Intake of Fruits and Vegetables among Low-Income Women in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children,” American Journal of Public Health, 98 no. 1 (2008): 98–105.

Food & Nutrition Service, Department of Agriculture, “WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program,” available at http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/fmnp/FMNPfaqs.htm (last visited February 25, 2009).

World Health Organization, Preventing Chronic Diseases: A Vital Investment, 2005, available at http://www.who.int/chp/chronic_disease_report/full_report.pdf (last visited February 25, 2009).

Id.

Chriqui J. F. Eidson S. S. Bates H. Kowalczyk S. , and Chaloupka F. , “State Sales Tax Rates for Soft Drinks and Snacks Sold through Grocery Stores and Vending Machines, 2007,” Journal of Public Health Policy 29, no. 2 (2008) 226–249.

Brownell K. D. Jacobson M. F. , “Small Taxes on Soft Drinks and Snack Foods to Promote Health,” American Journal of Public Health, 90 no. 6 (2000): 854–857.

New York City Health Code, § 81.08 (2006).

Proposals have been enacted in King County, Washington; Boston, Brookline, and Wilmington, Massachusetts; Stamford, Connecticut; New York City and Nassau, Westchester, and Albany Counties, New York; Baltimore and Montgomery County, Maryland; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. National Restaurant Association, State & Local Trans Fat Proposals, available at http://www.restaurant.org/government/state/nutrition/resources/nra_trans_fat_map.pdf (last visited February 25, 2009).

Warner M. , “The War Over Salt,” New York Times, September 13, 2006, at C1.

Federal Trade Commission Matter No.: P064504, “Food Industry Marketing to Children Report; Orders to File Special Report,” available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/6b_orders/food-mktg6b/index.shtm (last visited February 25, 2009).

Federal Trade Commission Report, Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents, July 2008, available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2008/07/P064504foodmktingreport.pdf (last visited February 25, 2009).

Institute of Medicine, “Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity?” 2006, available at http://iom.edu/CMS/3788/21939/31330.aspx (last visited February 25, 2009).

Id., at 192–98; Hawkes C. , “Regulating Food Marketing to Young People Worldwide: Trends and Policy Drivers,” American Journal of Public Health, 97 no. 11 (2007): 1962–1973.

Kunkel D. , “Children and Television Advertising,” in Singer D. G. Singer J. L. , eds., Handbook of Children and the Media (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001): 375–393.

Holt D. J. Ippolito P. M. Desrochers D. M. , and Kelley C. R. , Federal Trade Commission, Children's Exposure to TV Advertising in 1977 and 2004: Information for the Obesity Debate, June 1, 2007, at table 3.4.

Institute of Medicine, Food Marketing to Children and Youth: Threat or Opportunity (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2006).

Federal Trade Commission and Department of Health and Human Services, Perspectives on Marketing, Self-Regulation, & Childhood Obesity: A Report on a Joint Workshop of the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services, April 2006, available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2006/05/PerspectivesOnMarketingSelf-Regulation&ChildhoodObesityFTCandHHSReportonJointWorkshop.pdf (last visited February 26, 2009).

United States Department of Agriculture, “Steps to a Healthier You,” available at http://www.mypyramid.gov (last visited May 7, 2008); United States Department of Health and Human Services & United States Department of Agriculture, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005, available at http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/pdf/DGA2005.pdf (last visited May 7, 2008); United States Department of Health and Human Services, “Smallstep Adult and Teen,” available at http://www.smallstep.gov (last visited May 7, 2008); Office on Women's Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Frequently Asked Questions: A Healthy Diet,” January 2005, available at http://www.4woman.gov/faq/diet.pdf (last visited May 7, 2008).

Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, 21 U.S.C. § 343.

New York City, San Francisco, and King County, Washington have enacted menu labeling legislation; such regulation is anticipated in San Mateo County and Los Angeles County, California and is being considered by seven states and six other localities. National Restaurant Association, State & Local Menu Labeling Legislation, available at http://www.restaurant.org/government/state/nutrition/resources/nra_menu_labeling_map.pdf (last visited May 8, 2008).

New York State Restaurant Association v. New York City Bd. of Health, — F. Supp.2d —, 2008 WL 1777479 (S.D.N.Y. 2008).

Barron J. , “5 Manhattan Restaurants Cited for Lack of Calorie Counts on Menu,” New York Times, May 6, 2008, at B4. The menu labeling regulations in San Francisco and King County, Washington, are set to come into force later this year. National Restaurant Association, State & Local Menu Labeling Comparisons, available at http://www.restaurant.org/government/state/nutrition/resources/nra_menu_labeling_comparisons.pdf (last visited February 26, 2009).

Boehmer T. K. Brownson R. C. Haire-Joshu D. , and Dreisinger M. L. , “Patterns of Childhood Obesity Prevention Legislation in the United States,” Preventing Chronic Disease, 4 no. 3 (July 2007): 1–11.

Codified Ordinance of the City of Newport, Rhode Island, Section 17.04.050(B), Title 17 The Zoning Code Newport, Rhode Island.

Cole B. L. Fielding J. E. , “Health Impact Assessment: A Tool to Help Policy Makers Understand Health beyond Health Care,” Annual Review of Public Health 28 (2007) 393–412.

Id. See also Dannenberg A. L. Bhatia R. Cole B. L. Heaton S. K. Feldman J. D. , and Rutt C. D. , “Use of Health Impact Assessment in the U.S.: 27 Case Studies, 1999–2007,” American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 34 no. 3 (2008): 241–256.

Besser L. M. Dannenberg A. L. , “Walking to Public Transit: Steps to Help Meet Physical Activity Recommendations,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 29 no. 4 (2005): 272–280.

Jackson D. Z. , “Amtrak Is About to be Run Over,” Boston Globe, June 21, 2002, at A15.

Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act of 2000; Michigan Statutes Annotated § 3.548(102) (Michie 2000).

San Francisco, CA., Police Code art. 33 (2000).

Santa Cruz, CA., Municipal Code ch. 9.83 (1995).

Theran E. E. , “Legal Theory on Weight Discrimination,” in Brownell K. D. Puhl R. B. Schwartz M. B. Rudd L. C. , eds., Weight Bias: Nature, Consequences, and Remedies (New York: Guilford, 2005) at 205.

42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(C) (2000) and 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213 (2000).

Coleman v. Georgia Power Co., 81 F. Supp. 2d 1365, 1369 (N.D. Ga. 2000); E.E.O.C. v. Texas Bus Lines, 923 F. Supp. 965 (S.D. Tex. 1996); E.E.O.C. v. Watkins Motor Lines, Inc., 463 F.3d 436, 443 (6th Cir. 2006); Merker v. Miami-Dade County Fla., 485 F. Supp. 2d 1349 (S.D. Fla. 2007); Mendez v. Brown, 311 F. Supp. 2d 134 (D. Mass. 2004); Cook v. Rhode Island Dep't of Mental Health, Retardation, and Hospitals, 10 F.3d 17 (1st Cir. 1993); Hazeldine v. Beverage Media, Ltd., 954 F. Supp. 697 (S.D.N.Y. 1997).

Gregg E. W. Guralnik J. M. , “Is Disability Obesity's Price of Longevity?” JAMA 298 (2007): 2066–67; Rhodes E. T. Ludwig D. S. , “Childhood Obesity as a Chronic Diseases: Keeping the Weight Off,” JAMA 298 (2007): 1695–96; Alley D. E. Chang V. W. , “The Changing Relationship of Obesity and Disability, 1988–2004,” JAMA, 298 no. 17 (2007): 2020–2027.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Obesity Trends among U.S. Adults between 1985 and 2006,” available at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps (last updated February 26, 2009).

Finkelstein E. A. Fiebelkorn I. C. , and Wang G. , “National Medical Spending Attributable to Overweight and Obesity: How Much, and Who's Paying?” Health Affairs W3 (2003): 219–226.

Id. See also Trust for America's Health, “F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America,” available at http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?id=20314 (last visited February 26, 2009).

Id., at 37–38.

Id., at 38.

Hodge J. G. , “Law as a Tool to Improve the Health of Children and Adolescents in Schools,” Journal of School Health, 76 no. 9 (2006): 442–444.

Schwartz M. B. Brownell K. D. , “Actions Necessary to Prevent Childhood Obesity: Creating the Climate for Change,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 35 no. 1 (2007): 78–89.

United States Department of Agriculture, “National School Lunch Program,” available at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/ (last visited February 26, 2009); United States Department of Agriculture, “School Breakfast Program,” available at http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Breakfast/ (last visited February 26, 2009).

Alderman J. Smith J. A. , and Fried E. J. , “Application of Law to the Childhood Obesity Epidemic,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 35 no. 1 (2007): 90–112, at 93.

Id.

Peterson K. E. Fox M. K. , “Addressing the Epidemic of Childhood Obesity through School-Based Interventions: What Has Been Done and Where Do We Go From Here?” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 35 no. 1 (2007): 113–130, at 118.

Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, Public Law 108–265 (June 30, 2004).

United States Department of Agriculture, “Healthy Schools: Local Wellness Policy,” available at http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Healthy/wellnesspolicy.html (last visited February 26, 2009).

Arizona Public Acts, Chapter 320 (2001).

Ky. Acts, ch. 84, sec. 4 (June 20, 2005); K.R.S. § 158.854.

Trust for America's Health, Supplement to “F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America, 2008,” Obesity-Related Legislation Action in States, Update, available at http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2008/Supplement2008.pdf (last visited February 26, 2009).

Gostin L. O. Boufford J. I. , and Martinez R. M. , “The Future of the Public's Health: Vision, Values, and Strategies,” Health Affairs, 23 no. 4 (2004): 96–107.