Who gets to decide what is good for us?

A blanket ban on junk food and colas in school and university canteens countrywide and mandatory yoga classes in schools — that’s Union health minister A Ramadoss’s prescription to fight rising obesity among India’s youth.

"Colas with or without pesticides are harmful for health and should not be consumed. We want all forms of junk food like pizzas, chips, samosas and burgers banned from canteens," Ramadoss said here on Thursday on the sidelines of a conference on nutrition.

And, it’s not merely a statement of intent. The minister is aggressively pushing the proposal. He has written to state health ministers, asking them to plan and implement the ban on junk food — seen as one of the main causes of the rise in heart disease, diabetes and cancer among India’s 300-milion-strong, and increasingly wealthy, middle class.

Man. This is like we are NIT wit's (excuse the pun). That we cant decide what is good or bad for us. That we need someone else to take care of us. Teaching us is one thing. Forcing it down our gullets is something else