With the concern over mankind’s rising obesity rate at an all-time high, and the concern over the diminished state of our general health, the government is stepping in all over the place to dictate what kinds of foods people can eat.

New York City has banned the use of trans fat in any foods that are sold in the 5 boroughs that made up the Big Apple, and other legislators have proposed that fast food restaurants be prohibited from opening outlets in low-income neighborhoods.  It’s amazing how the freedom of choice that people have enjoyed in so many areas has been abridged here in the relatively unimportant area of “food choices.”

These actions are defended as being done in the interests of public health, which is a nice way of saying that our elected officials feel that a lot of people are too dumb to take care of themselves.

However these moves – along with the move to ban smoking in a public places – are half measures. 

And half measures are acts of cowardice.

If all of the do-goodniks out there really want to make a difference – if they really have balls, guts, conviction, chutzpah, cajones - they should make sure that every American exercises. 

Not all unhealthy people smoke, not all fat people eat trans fat, if you eat trans fat you aren’t necessarily fat or unhealthy (I love processed baked goods and my “numbers” exceed perfection), not all thin people are healthy, not all overweight people are unhealthy, not all vegetarians/vegans/organics are thin or healthy.

But if you don’t exercise there’s an extraordinarily good chance that you are unhealthy.  And you can make a more defensible, more logical and scientifically-based argument to support mandatory exercise for all people than you can make an argument to support a position that prevents people from engaging in some other lifestyle choices.

So let’s make exercise mandatory since we’re all so concerned with improving the general well-being of the general public.

Forget about the dubious studies that are used to justify banning trans fat or any other food or drink.  There’s tons of hardcore, ironclad, bona fide research that tells us that regular exercise is the single most important thing that a person can do to live a healthier life. 

Exercise is demonstrably more important than diet, so why doesn’t our government make exercise mandatory for all?

If the government can institute a speed limit on the roadways in order to make things as safe as reasonably possible, if they can ban smoking in public places and tell restaurants and other food processors that certain ingredients can’t be used in their products, the government should compel every American to exercise.

Knowing what we know about the benefits of exercise, and since we’ve let the interest groups and the government ban certain behaviors and foods, how can we let the government get away with not making everyone get up and at least go for a 30 minute daily walk?

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