They can't just force people to have healthier diets. They need to be encouraged change, when they see the benefits of losing weigh,They will try. Numerous fast food restaurants and all you can eat buffets, really don't help this. But banning food like burgers, just doesn't work. People need to be encouraged, that their life would be better, if they were healthier. Afterall, it's about having a balanced diet and exercise

Right, it's not a tax until John Roberts makes it one.

You know what the cause of obesity is in america? Being a lazy ass and over eating. I'm sorry but if you have a disease that causes obesity I understand but most people that are over-weight are just lazy and eat to much. Some people want to make excuses but I work a full--time job, full-time college student, have a social life, play games and sports, yet I can still workout out 3-6 times a week. Plus I eat correctly so in my opinion there is no excuse for being a big blob on a couch.

Yeah I agree with you completely. But because fast food is constantly advertised everywhere and is readily available quickly, no wonder people are fat. If they walked every where, it would not be so bad. As you say, people are just lazy nowadays

This is what you get when you have bureaucrats deciding what a "healthy" meal is ...

Someone who actually had a clue what they were doing would have taken kids 10 (or 20) favorite foods and modified them so that they were healthier. It is far easier to get a kid to eat a healthy pizza or taco than it is to get them to eat hummus or bean salad.

The main reason for obesity in children is very bad eating habits, most of it learned from their parents or due to parental apathy. Children are usually unable to make good decisions in this area on their own. Even worse, eating habits learned as children usually stick with a person into adulthood.

I used to work at a convenience store. I cannot tell you how many times I saw the same parents every day bring their children in for breakfast, after-school snacks, and even dinner. A honey-bun and a soda in the morning is not good at all, and is neither letting your children pick out whatever they want and calling it dinner. And no, trying to explain it away to the cashier as "I'm too tired to cook, lol" does not cut it, not when you do the same thing on a continual basis. We had another lady, a very nice woman, who could not say "no" to her children, so they had the tradition of getting a snack EVERY SINGLE TIME they came to the store, which was basically every day. As you might imagine, all three children were fat and on the way to obese.

So, yeah, I have no problem at all with kids getting one healthy meal a day, because it's the only shot at nutrition some of them are going to see.

I think it is pretty clear that most kids in western countries are too stupid to know how to eat properly.

I didn't read what any of you or the OP said, but I really believe every child should have at least 3-5 years of cooking class. After that they might even be educated enough to be able to chose their own meal.

People are not used to eating vegetables at home? So many people that it actually makes the news, and they can't even eat it if nothing else is availible?

No wonder america has an obesity problem.

How does it work in american schools, do they pay for the food or is it free?

Townhall.com is a politically website, that will seek out and oppose anything Obama is involved with and frame it in the worst possible light.  This whole bit is the lead in to drudgereport.com website, speaking how Michelle Obama is a nasty nanny.  I figured I would ask if what the site argues instead for, that being that kids pick what to eat on the cafeteria menu, like the do now.  Strapped for cash school districts have been having Pizza Hut and McDonald's come in and serve food of their menu to kids.  So kids are eating fast food in cafeterias all day.  The reasoning is that they will refuse to eat healthy.  So, maybe there is some sort of middle ground here.  But, the way it is framed, either it is a health meal menu in cafeterias, or you give the kids what they want.