Chicago’s new health commissioner is nanny statist writ large:

But Dr. Terry Mason, a glib urologist and part-time radio talk show host, said at his confirmation hearing Tuesday that he is determined to make Chicago a healthier city, and he wants to start right at City Hall.

Mason said he plans “report cards” for the mayor and the aldermen, an early step toward getting all Chicagoans to evaluate their health and make lifestyle changes as necessary.

“Obesity is not just a problem in the city of Chicago,” Mason told members of the council’s Health Committee. “It is a problem for the United States of America.”

[...]

sked about the city’s response to AIDS and HIV, Mason told committee members that the Health Department “without question” needs to expand its prevention program.

But he said that the top two causes of death in America are heart disease and cancer.

“There is already a pandemic,” he told the aldermen. “Once every 72 seconds, somebody dies in America from a heart attack. … While I am not trying to minimize AIDS or any other diseases, heart disease, cancer, diabetes are taking their toll in much, much larger numbers, and we have not done our job both in terms of providing the kinds of information [needed] as well as partnering with communities” in trying to live healthier.

[...]

“Two-thirds of cancers are related to obesity, diet, exercise, as well as tobacco,” said Steve Derks, CEO of the Illinois Division of the American Cancer Society. “The fact Dr. Mason will be focusing on this issue and people’s own ability to lower their risk is a wonderful opportunity for partnership with the American Cancer Society and its agenda. It is right in line with what we want to achieve.”

I’m calling bullshit on that last statement (see my debunking of the obesity and cancer link here), as well as the idea that we’re in the midst of a heart disease “pandemic.” As regular readers of this site know, heart disease is in rapid decline, and has been for twenty years, now. Same for nearly all forms of cancer. Life expectancy is at an all-time high. The “our love handles are killing us” line is a canard, almost always followed-up by pleas for massive government intervention. Watch yourselves, Chicagoans. Probably only a matter of time before the city starts browsing not only the health records of its aldermen, but also of its citizens. Expect your own report card in the mail in due time.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 11th, 2006 at 11:52 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Nanny State, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.