2008 In Review: City Imposes Bans, Mandates To Promote Better Health
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This year could definitely be looked at as the year "the law was laid down," as the city and state instituted bans and mandates that impacted some of our most common habits. NY1 Health & Fitness reporter Kafi Drexel filed the following report. In 2008, more New Yorkers saw restaurants and eateries adjusting their menus. The city's full ban on trans-fats finally took effect. Food prepared in places from restaurants to street carts is limited to less than 0.5 grams of artificial trans-fat per serving.
Following courtroom challenges, a new law requiring restaurant chains to display calorie counts on menus and menu boards gives consumers an eye-opening look on just how much they're eating.
The Legislature then took aim at another vice; a higher cigarette tax could also be keeping more New Yorkers from lighting up. The $1.25 tax increase brings the cost of cigarettes to over $8 a pack.
Health officials launch an advertisement campaign coaxing smokers to think about how much cash quitting might save them, if the health impact of the habit hasn't already gotten to them.
Piggy-backing off the success of the cigarette tax, Governor David Paterson closes out the year proposing an additional 18-percent sales tax on regular, non-diet, sodas. If it winds up going into effect, health officials say the so-called "obesity tax" could reduce consumption by 5 percent --taking a gulp out of what they say is a major contributor to the obesity and diabetes epidemics plaguing many New Yorkers.
Without imposing any new laws or taxes, New Yorkers are reminded about the dangers of unsafe sex.
Rates of sexually transmitted diseases are much higher in the city than the nation. More than a quarter of New Yorkers are infected with the virus that causes genital herpes, and one in five New Yorkers are putting themselves at risk of HIV by having unprotected sex.
More women are encouraged to get their annual mammogram after a Department of Health survey indicates a four-percent drop over the last five years. While the drop may seem small, it's a big concern for health experts, as breast cancer is currently the second-leading cause of cancer death among women in the city.
And it all boiled down to matters of the heart. Health officials say more than 750,000 New Yorkers are at high risk of heart attack or stroke due to high blood pressure.
While there is no proposed tax on the periodic table's most popular flavor, but New Yorkers are being encouraged to hold the salt -- something you might expect to start hearing a lot more about in the New Year.