As citizens of the United States continue to live with dangerously unhealthy eating habits, California should take the initiative and become the first state to ban large sugar filled drinks from being sold by restaurants and fast food establishments.

After New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s soda ban on beverages larger than 16 ounces found approval from the city’s health department, the question that arises is should California should follow the city’s lead and become the first state to push such a strong ban?

The sometimes overly aggressive health conscious Mayor Bloomberg has led the charge for the ban to be passed across the city, forcing major food chains to stop serving large sugar filled sodas and sugared tea beverages immediately.

Although convenience stores and grocery stores are within some of the exceptions, this extreme and strict ban easily has health related positives outweighing industry and business related negatives.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 60.7 percent of adults over the age of 18 in California are overweight, and a simple ban making citizens more aware of the health hazards packed into large sugary beverages is a healthy step in the right direction.

How many people would cut down their daily calorie intake when not being able to purchase over 16 ounces of Coca Cola to guzzle down with their already unhealthy lunch?

How many children can learn the importance of portion control by not having over 16 ounces of sugar filled sprite as an option from the get go?

A lot, and as soon as the public accepts an introductory ban such as this, they can easily become more receptive and accepting of health minded bans in the future.

There are many skeptics of the ban who feel that not all obesity is caused from large sugar filled beverages, and thus bans should be spread to multiple industries that are also proven to have impacts against consumer’s health.

While these ideas are also completely correct, one could argue that more of the population reaches for three to four cups of soda a day than three to four candy bars.

California accounts for the largest percentage of the United States’ population, and getting the largest state in the country on board with improving the countries health will go quickly in the population’s favor.

States that have held the title as the most obese in the country, such as Mississippi for example, can learn from New York City and California’s health conscious experiment and hopefully bring down their obesity rating for the first time in years.

Here at Cerritos College, large beverages would not be offered from the fast food establishments on campus, and transitions would have to be made in the vending machines to accommodate the ban.

With complaints being made that health conscious meal choices aren’t exactly offered on campus, shying away from the over sized drinks could definitely start making our Cerritos campus a healthier place.

Although the ban may impact some small business owners, when a country’s health is in turmoil, the necessary steps have to be made to keep more people in great condition.