In early October, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, with the support of Governor David Paterson, proposed that the USDA’s food stamp program should prohibit New Yorkers from buying sugary soft drinks with state funds. The hope, of course, is to influence people to improve their diets and be healthier, thus reducing obesity and the risk of acquiring chronic diseases like diabetes, diseases that are as expensive to manage as they are debilitating.
Dr. Fran Kaufman, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Global Medical, Clinical & Health Affairs at Medtronic Diabetes, Distinguished Professor Emerita of Pediatrics and Communications at USC, and member of Arogya World’s Indo-US Scientific Steering Committee, suggests that “By improving the quality of what the federal food program pays for now, our government will reap the profits by spending less on chronic diseases in the future.”