Legislating healthy eating

Marc Bittman of the NYT is a very intense writer on the subject of food; growing it, preparing it and of course, eating food.  His style is forthright, but even a staunch liberal like yours truly can be put off by his hectoring approach to junk food.  He compares dietary lawmaking to a seat belt law.  It may infringe on your god given right to drive without seat belts or have that 32 oz. Big Gulp, but it has been proven in both cases to save lives.  Diabetes kills as surely as meeting your windshield at 60 MPH.  It just takes longer in the case of soda consumption and unfortunately a fatality from disease is way more expensive to society.  It just seems like a bigger infringement on our freedom to prevent us from drinking a soda.  I know that with the right campaign, the children will harass their parents in the matter of calorie consumption as surely as my kids policed seat belt use in our family car.  While I can't say I look forward to the so called "Nanny State" looking over my shoulder and making dietary decisions for me, I don't see a humane alternative.  Surely we will take care of our fellow citizens who continue to overindulge in dietary car crashes, but at what cost to society.  Most of these are low income, low information consumers who will be unable to afford the health care neccesitated by their choices.  Should we let them die slow painful deaths.  I think not.  On the bright side, if we can convince the 4 can a day soda drinker to eat healthy, it will be a boon to the fresh veg industry.