Health regulation needed

To the Editor:

Our health care is the best in the world, but with skyrocketing costs, it is unavailable to millions of Americans.

The last thing a person, with no insurance needs, are a heart attack, stroke or cancer, but not enough time and effort are spent educating people of the health risks of over consumption of meat and dairy products. The fast food industry spends billions to lure people into their restaurants and people flock to them, consuming more calories, fat and sodium than is necessary.

The FDA recommends no more than five ounces of meat per day, yet their own statistics show that the average American is consuming twice that amount. Other statistics show that 25 percent of us eat fast food on a regular basis and that 95 percent of those believe what they eat will do them no harm.

Therefore, it is not surprising that heart disease, obesity and cancers are on the increase.

The American Heart Association says that most heart disease is diet related and the American Cancer Society says that one-third of cancer deaths are diet related.

The public needs to be made aware of these risks.

Now, the fast food industry doesn't want people to get sick, but at the same time, they don't want to be held responsible, so they have had laws passed to exempt them from liability.

I believe fast food ads should be banned from TV the same as tobacco ads and that meat should be taxed to encourage people to eat less with the proceeds used for educational programs.

Another option would be to require nutrition labels on all fast food products so if someone wants to eat a 1,000-calorie, 70-gram fat, 1,500 mg sodium sandwich on a regular basis, then that's their choice, but they had better have a good health insurance policy.

William Wilson,

Jeffersonville, Ind.