Last year, several states tried to ban purchases of “unhealthy” foods using government assistance. They were unsuccessful in their endeavors, but should they have been?

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m graciously liberal at heart. I’m one of those people that enjoy paying taxes, because I honestly feel like I can help contribute to people who may be in a spot worse off than me. We’d never get anywhere in life without getting help from someone (at some point).

Despite being touted for its potential to curb the obesity epidemic, the FDA rejected Contrave back in February due to safety concerns. The company actually put some of the blame on the FDA, saying that they were requiring “unprecedented” safety studies. However, the FDA has now outlined a clinical trial that could be completed by 2014 and would allow any significant side effects to come to light. And if the study goes well, it could be the first weight loss drug approved in the US in more than a decade.

Throughout history the United States has succumbed to many epidemics. Yellow fever, cholera, the Spanish flu, H1N1 – these infections have cost literally thousands of lives. Today, our nation is facing the most challenging epidemic yet. This epidemic can’t be “caught” and is perhaps more deadly than any of its predecessors, for no one is immune. Obesity, especially childhood obesity, is our greatest threat.

You may have heard that San Francisco’s city council passed a law that bans toys from kids’ meals if they don’t meet certain nutritional guidelines. The guidelines that need to be met appear below:

• The meals must contain fewer than 600 calories and fewer than 640 mgs of sodium
• They must have less than 35% of calories as fat, and less than 10% as saturated fat
• They must have at least a ½ cup of fruit and ¾ cup of vegetables

Obesity in kids is a fast growing epidemic that has gained the attention of the media, the medical and academic communities, and of course, politicians. In fact, First Lady Michelle Obama has made this her signature issue and has even spearheaded a national taskforce aimed at raising childhood obesity awareness and offering solutions to reverse the trend.

This September, the first ever “Childhood Obesity Month” will be instituted, and while these initiatives appear to be noble, it’s actually very sad.