More Calm, Objective Biz Reporting: 'As the Nation's Obesity Crisis Continues Unabated...'

Reporter Andrew Martin packed a lot of finger-wagging melodrama into his Business Day "news" story on Tuesday, "New Guidelines Praised for Urging Less Food and Soda."

Martin's puritanical moralizing over the "powerful food lobby" reminded me of Melanie Warner's previous joyless food reporting, where she found danger in Happy Meal toys and sodas in school.

As the nation's obesity crisis continues unabated, federal regulators on Monday issued their bluntest nutrition advice to date: drink water instead of sugary drinks like soda, fill your plate with fruits and vegetables and cut down on processed foods filled with sodium, fat or sugar.

More important, perhaps, the government told Americans, "Enjoy your food, but eat less." Many Americans eat too many calories every day, expanding their waistlines and imperiling their health.

While the recommendations may seem obvious, it is nonetheless considered major progress for federal regulators, who have long skirted the issue, wary of the powerful food lobby. (The 112-page report even subtly suggests that people eat less pizza and dessert.)

Previous guidelines urged Americans to curb sugar, solid fats and salt, but avoided naming specific foods, let alone urging consumers to eat less food over all.

"For them to have said 'eat less' is really new. Who would have thought?" said Margo G. Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "We should have been saying 'eat less' for a decade."

Martin even blandly hinted at government pressure on restaurants to reduce their portion sizes.

Similarly, the guidelines' advice to reduce portion size could put pressure on restaurants, many of which continue to serve portions so large that they could easily serve two people under the government's guidelines.