Health nut mayor puts new focus on bad habits

updated 3:23 p.m. ET Jan. 12, 2006

NEW YORK - When Mayor Michael Bloomberg sat down to lunch with children during a school visit a few years ago, he was disgusted by the soggy, greasy fries and other junk on their plates.

He pushed for a revamp of school menus and by the start of the next school year, fat-laden meals were being replaced by healthier versions. That same year, 2003, the city began handing out free nicotine patches and Bloomberg won his crusade to outlaw smoking in bars and restaurants.

Now the city is going after high-calorie foods in bodegas, restaurants and company cafeterias.

Experts say Bloomberg — a bit of a health nut himself — has targeted unhealthy lifestyles unlike any other administration before him.

“It’s more aggressive than we’ve ever seen in the past,” said Dr. Allan Rosenfield, dean of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “There’s a willingness to take on unpopular but important issues.”

More than 53 percent of New Yorkers are overweight or obese — lower than the ballooning national 65 percent, but far too high, according to Bloomberg and his health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Frieden. Being overweight raises the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and heart disease, which is New York City’s worst killer.

Last summer, the health department launched a campaign against trans-fats. Often used by restaurants and in packaged foods, trans-fats are thought to cause cholesterol problems and increase the risk of heart disease.

After restaurant inspectors found that 30 percent of the city’s 30,000 eateries were using oils that contain trans-fats, the department began urging a citywide “oil change.” Officials sent letters to food service operators and started teaching workers about trans-fats along with their required food safety training.

The city plans another survey this spring to measure the results of the project.

Officials next want to tackle portion sizes.

Out of control
Towering pastrami sandwiches, bagels with gooey schmears of cream cheese and pizza slices that spill over paper plates may be the city’s culinary landmarks, but the health department says the Big Apple is out of control.

“Today probably the biggest hazards from what you eat are not food poisoning but the caloric load,” said Dr. Lynn Silver, an assistant health commissioner. So health officials are trying to teach restaurants how to make healthier meals.

Leaders of the state restaurant association — who opposed the smoking ban — have so far supported the health department’s dip into nutritional education, but are eyeing it cautiously.

“It’s one thing for them to recommend, it’s another if they start saying, ‘You must do this,”’ said Charles Hunt, who heads the association’s New York City office.

MORE FROM FITNESS

Fitness Section Front

6 gifts fit for the gym rat on your list University drops required PE class for obese Can exercise help ward off the swine flu? This holiday, take your diet advice and stuff it Nintendo Wii may provide actual exercise Can working out wear you out? Lack of exercise not to blame for teen obesity? Get fit, faster, with short-burst training Move that muffin top to your chest? Why music makes exercise easier Fitness Section Front   Add Fitness headlines to your news reader: