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ST09-04-032 |
April 03, 2009 |
Contact: Press
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(212) 669-3747 |
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THOMPSON STATEMENT ON GOVERNOR DAVID PATERSON’S OBESITY LEGISLATION
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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today issued the following statement after Governor Paterson announced legislation he has proposed to help fight obesity and promote healthy lifestyles among all New Yorkers:
I welcome the Governor’s initiatives. In September 2007 my office released a study, Health and Wealth: Assessing and Addressing Health Disparities in New York City, demonstrating that while in some of the more affluent neighborhoods people have gotten healthier, since 1990 lower income New Yorkers have been suffering increasingly diminished health outcomes – especially in diabetes and heart disease, for which obesity is a major risk factor. Both banning trans fats and ensuring that school meals and vending machine food in schools are healthier are important initiatives.
The proposed school wellness policies are also vitally important, especially increasing students’ physical activity throughout the school day. I note, however, that New York State already has laws and regulations that require extensive physical education programs in our schools and the Department of Education must ensure they are enforced.
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