"Nanny", "tyrant"—these were among the charges hurled at Michael Bloomberg, New York’s mayor, when he proposed a ban on big fizzy-drink bottles last May. The billionaire shrugged and pushed forward. However even Mr. Bloomberg must heed a court order. The American Beverage Association, which represents Coca-Cola and other soda companies, has sued. Mr. Bloomberg’s ban is due to start on March 12th, but a judge may intervene.
Three years after Michelle Obama launched her Let’s Move! campaign, the fight against childhood obesity faces a tactical problem. Recent years have been dipping obesity rates in a few places, including New York, Mississippi and Philadelphia. But 17% of American children are still obese. The question is how to speed up progress. Further bans look increasingly unlikely.
Voluntary programs remain politically much easier. Mrs. Obama has exhorted firms to take action. Many companies have. On March 6th the Partnership for a Healthier America, a business group, published a report praising its members for putting more grocers in poor areas and healthier foods at restaurants. Sixteen food and beverage companies have promised to slash a combined 1.5 trillion calories from their products by 2015. Their first progress report is due in June. The long-term effect of these efforts may be slim. For example, even if the food and drink firms keep their promise, they would cut just 14 calories from the average American’s daily diet.
Regulations might bring bigger change, but recent years suggest that such rules will come slowly, if at all. Congress did pass a law requiring healthier school lunches, though its effects are limited. Other attempts at national regulation have stalled. Four federal agencies studied voluntary guidelines to limit junk-food advertisements to children. Under pressure from Congress, the agencies dropped the effort. Obamacare requires that all restaurants and cinemas post the number of calories in their foods. The Food and Drug Administration proposed a rule for menus in 2011, but has yet to finalise the regulation.
Cities and states are more likely to act than Congress (hardly a high bar), but they face their own challenges. Last year the beverage lobby spent more than $2.8m to defeat a soda tax in the small city of Richmond, California. Even Mr. Bloomberg, the anti-obesity crusade’s most fervent warrior, can only do so much. We can infer from the last paragraph that ______.