Data on smoking rates by year in both adults and high school students are available through the health department’s EpiQuery tool at: https://a816-healthpsi.nyc.gov/epiquery.
Data on on-screen smoking are available at http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/movies/index.htm.
The global antismoking work of Bloomberg Philanthropies is described in the organization’s report “Accelerating the Worldwide Movement to Reduce Tobacco Use,” Fall 2011, available at http://www.bloomberg.org. The status of global tobacco control is summarized in the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2013, available at http://www.who.int. The estimate of lives saved from global tobacco control comes from a model that was developed by David T. Levy and used for many other settings.
The estimate of the number of deaths attributable to unhealthy diet in America comes from the Institute of Health Metric and Evaluation’s analysis, accessed with its GBD Compare tool at http://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare. The prevalence of obesity in America comes from C. L. Ogden et al., “Prevalence of Childhood and Adult Obesity in the United States, 2011–2012,” Journal of the American Medical Association 311 (2014): 806–14.
In Seattle, calorie labeling in restaurants was not followed by reductions in the calorie content of food purchases six months later, but eighteen months later it was, as shown in J. W. Krieger et al., “Menu Labeling Regulations and Calories Purchased at Chain Restaurants,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 44 (2013): 595–604.
The increase in availability of fruits and vegetables in neighborhoods in which Green Carts were operating is described in the health department’s Epi Data Brief no. 48, “Green Cart Evaluation, 2008–2011,” August 2014.
The health department’s food standards can be found at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/living/agency-food-standards.shtml.
The FDA’s final menu labeling rule is available at: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm217762.htm.
Two randomized controlled trials on the effects of sugary drinks are J. C. de Ruyter et al., “A Trial of Sugar-Free or Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Body Weight in Children,” New England Journal of Medicine 367 (2012): 1397–406; and C. B. Ebbeling et al., “A Randomized Trial of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Adolescent Body Weight,” New England Journal of Medicine 367 (2012): 1407–16.
The New York State court of appeals decision on the portion cap case is available at https://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/Decisions/2014/Jun14/134opn14-Decision.pdf.
The global obesity epidemic is described in M. Ng et al., “Global, Regional, and National Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adults During 1980–2013; A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013,” Lancet 384 (2014): 766–81. The Bloomberg foundation’s involvement in the Mexican soda tax is briefly described at http://www.bloomberg.org/program/public-health/obesity-prevention. Comments on the impact of this tax on sugary drink sales are in “Mexico Soda Tax Dents Coke Bottler’s Sales,” Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2014. On the battles for the Berkeley soda tax initiative, see “How Michael Bloomberg Helped Pass Berkeley’s Soda Tax,” Washington Post, November 6, 2014.
Thanks
Thanks first to Michael Bloomberg, who could have spent his money and his political power on many things but chose to spend them helping New Yorkers live longer, healthier lives. If you ask me, that is what the mayoralty is for. And thanks to him for then giving a few hundred million dollars to prevent needless suffering in places like Bangladesh. I can think of no better way to use a fortune. Thanks to Tom Frieden for applying his greatest strength—his relentlessness—to save lives. And thanks to both men for entrusting New Yorkers’ health to this untested professor from New Orleans.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is indeed a powerhouse of intelligence, creativity, and compassion. The staff members who spoke to me for this book are Sonia Angell, Mary Bassett, Anna Caffarelli, Eve Cagan, Louise Cohen, Geoff Cowley, Christina Chang, Kelly Christ, Christine Curtis, Blayne Cutler, Jeffrey Escoffier, Tom Frieden, Andy Goodman, Victoria Grimshaw, Daliah Heller, Susan Kansagra, Maura Kennelly, Beth Kilgore, Ashley Lederer, Wilfredo Lopez, Chris Manning, Elliott Marcus, Colin McCord, Tom Merrill, Sam Miller, Farzad Mostashari, Amanda Parsons, Anne Pearson, Sarah Perl, Andrew Rein, Lynn Silver, Kevin Schroth, Donna Shelley, Anne Sperling, Monica Sweeney, and Lorna Thorpe. Thanks to them and to the thousands of others in the department who quietly protect and promote the health of all New Yorkers. Beside those listed above, some of the many who helped me run the agency were Julie Friesen, Carolyn Greene, Adam Karpati, Dan Kass, Jian Liu, Marisa Raphael, Assunta Rozza, Jay Varma, and Patsy Yang. Thanks to those who, at various times, served as my chief of staff, helping translate my ideas into plans and keeping me out of trouble: Christina Chang, Kelly Christ, Emiko Otsubo, and for a short time, Jonathan Wangel.
Thanks to others who sat for interviews, including Jose Bandujo, Bob Brothers, Linda Gibbs, Peter Madonia, Christine Quinn, Alfred Sommer, and Howard Wolfson. My apologies to those who gave me wonderful stories and insights that I wasn’t able to fit into this short book. Thanks to Frank Maselli not just for showing me how the electronic medical record works but also for connecting me to Chris Gallin and Sylvia Birnbaum (not her real name), and thanks to those two for letting me tell their stories.
Writing a book takes a long time. Thanks to Laurie Tisch and Rick Luftglass for supporting the Joan H. Tisch fellowship and to Jennifer Raab at Hunter College for letting me occupy it so that I had that time. Jonathan Fanton, Jack Rosenthal, Fay Rosenfeld, Laura Holbrooke, and the others at Roosevelt House at Hunter College helped me work. Special thanks to Judith Rodin, Peter Madonia, Pilar Palacio, and others at the Rockefeller Foundation for giving me three glorious weeks in Bellagio to think and write in a sea of creativity.
Tom Mayer at W. W. Norton made this book shorter and much better. Not many authors today are fortunate enough to get that kind of help. Katherine Fausset of Curtis Brown helped me think through the book and persuaded Tom Mayer that it was worth a try.
Index
Page numbers listed correspond to the print edition of this book. You can use your device’s search function to locate particular terms in the text.
Abrams, Floyd, 149
advertising. See antismoking ads; media campaigns; specific industries
Affordable Care Act. See health care reform
Africa
Bassett’s work in, 40–41
McCord’s work in, 25, 40–41
South African salt reduction initiative, 263
AIDS, 11–12, 24, 40, 41
alcohol
alcoholic drinks and portion size caps, 205, 207
minimum legal age, 240
Alderman, Michael, 164, 222–23
Altria, 144
See also Philip Morris
American Beverage Association, 177, 183
and antisoda advertising, 154
lobbying activities, 158–59, 186
and SNAP restriction proposal, 186
and the soda portion cap rule, 227–28, 231
on the soda tax proposal, 110
on sugary drinks and obesity, 112
See also soda industry
American Cancer Society, 18, 157, 245, 248
American Diabetes Association, 157
American Heart Association, 157, 161, 168, 245, 248
American Journal of Public Health, 219
American Lung Association, 245, 248
American Medical Association, 161
JAMA papers, 164, 221
Anagnostopoulos, Greg, 235
Angell, Sonia, 51–53, 71, 72, 75, 269
and the National Salt Reduction Initiative, 117, 118, 127, 161, 165, 167, 219
antihunger organizations, and SNAP restrictions, 182–83, 186
antismoking ads
background, 54–56
countering the Mad Men effect, 244
&nbs
p; effectiveness of, 61, 64–65, 98, 196
health impacts featured in, 56–59, 64–66, 89–90, 98, 194–96, 198, 260–61
initial campaign, 56–59
later campaigns, 65–66, 89–90, 98, 194–96, 243
outside the U.S., 260–61
targeting nondaily smokers, 259–60
youth smoking and, 55, 200
antitobacco programs. See antismoking ads; smoking prevention programs
Applebee’s, 76
Arnold & Porter, 144
Au Bon Pain, 150
Australia
antismoking ads, 56, 57, 58, 65, 98
salt reduction initiatives, 225
Baldwin, Alec, 212
Bandujo, Jose, 152, 153, 154–55, 183, 194–95, 196
Bangladesh, antismoking initiatives in, 260
Barclays Center, 231
bars, smoking bans in, 26, 136
See also Smoke-Free Air Act; smoke-free laws
Bassett, Emmett, 39–40
Bassett, Mary, 70–71, 261, 267
background and hiring, 39–42
and the calorie-labeling rule, 82, 91
as current NYC health commissioner, 269
doctor outreach program, 93–94
and Frieden, 41, 72, 137
and the Green Carts initiative, 85
and Silver, 49, 72
and the soda and junk food tax programs, 104
and the trans fats ban, 42, 43–44, 46
and the 2008 Salt Summit, 118, 121
Baumgartner, Leona, 25
beach smoking bans, 147–48
beer container sizes, 207
Beijing indoor smoking ban, 260
Berg, Joel, 182
Berkeley soda tax, 266
Berman, Liz, 229
Berman, Micah, 200, 201
Bertucci’s, 221
Biggs, Hermann, 23
Birnbaum, Sylvia, 113–14, 163
Bittman, Mark, 211
Bloomberg, Michael
and antismoking ads, 196
approval ratings, 60, 145
and author’s appointment as health commissioner, 128
and the Berkeley soda tax campaign, 266
cigarette tax increase, 19, 21, 30–31, 48
and City Hall press coverage, 138–39
concerns about cigarette sales restrictions, 147
on e-cigarettes, 250
on effectiveness of antismoking efforts, 196–98
first mayoral campaign and election, 13–14
Frieden’s appointment as health commissioner, 14, 15–16
on government and the law as a public health tool, 2, 270
and the health department’s behavioral/environmental focus, 266–67
on the importance of obesity prevention, 110, 235
international antismoking initiatives, 61, 63–64, 198, 260–61
nanny-government accusations, 163, 211
on the New York press, 140, 144
presidential aspirations, 121
and preventive-care improvement software, 92, 95–97
and the salt reduction initiative, 162, 165, 166–68, 220–21
and the Smoke-Free Air Act, 29–30, 31, 32–33, 36, 37, 38
and Smoke-Free Air Act expansions, 148, 250–54
on smoking, 16
and the SNAP soda exclusion proposal, 179
and the soda portion cap rule, 208–9, 210, 211, 212, 216, 263–64
and soda tax proposals, 105, 110, 157, 159
support for the Johns Hopkins University school of public health, 256–57
term limits revision and 2009 reelection, 122, 145
and the tobacco product display ban, 201, 239, 249
and the trans fats ban, 72–75
2005 campaign and reelection, 53, 60, 95–96
and the 2008 Salt Summit, 118, 119–21
at UN meeting on NCDs, 256, 257, 258, 260, 261, 270
and Walmart in New York City, 175
Bloomberg Philanthropies
international antismoking initiatives, 260–61
Mexican anti-obesity initiatives, 266
Blu, 245, 246
Blumenthal, David, 169
Boar’s Head, 168, 221
Bodega Association of the United States, 239
bodegas, 30, 44
and the Green Carts initiative, 87–88, 262
healthy food availability, 85, 86, 265–66
See also cigarette retailers; grocery stores
Bookman, Robert, 241
Boreali v. Axelrod, 232–33, 234–35, 236–37
Boston Market, 83
breastfeeding initiatives, 10
Brody, Jane, 162–63
Brothers, Bob, 194, 195
Brownell, Kelly, 228
Brown, Nancy, 168
bubonic plague, 24
Burger King, 70, 105, 136, 168, 227
business concerns and impacts
about cigarette sales and display restrictions, 147, 241
about indoor smoking bans, 27, 29, 33, 35, 36–37, 48
about portion size caps, 208, 215, 228, 232
about the Green Carts initiative, 87–88, 262
about the trans fats ban, 52, 73, 76, 79–80
corporations as public health enemies, 267–68
Butts, Calvin, 33
Caffarelli, Anna, 80–81
Cahillane, Steven, 215, 216, 217–18, 231
Cahill, Gordon & Reindel, 149
California
antismoking programs and smoke-free legislation, 22, 27, 64, 136
Berkeley soda tax, 266
restaurant calorie-labeling legislation, 84
calorie labeling
new FDA menu labeling rule, 263
See also restaurant calorie-labeling rule
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, 239, 245, 248
Campbell Soup, 165, 168, 174–75
Canada
salt reduction initiatives, 225
tobacco product display bans, 200
Canada, Geoffrey, 235
cancer, 15, 22, 26, 258
carbohydrates
obesity and, 101–2
See also soda entries; sugary drinks
Caro, Sixto, 215, 230–31
CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
CDC antismoking ads, 56
Frieden’s directorship, 127, 128, 269
Frieden’s work in the Epidemic Intelligence Service, 11–12
and salt reduction initiatives, 163–64, 165, 166, 223
Center for Science in the Public Interest, 116, 228
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. See CDC
Chang, Christina, 26, 74, 118, 132, 199
and antismoking ads, 195, 196
and the salt reduction initiative, 118, 121, 126
and the Smoke-Free Air Act, 26, 29, 33, 62
and soda portion cap rule, 204
“Changing the Food Environment” nutrition summit (2010), 165, 166–67, 176
Chan, T. H., 257
Checkers, 188
Cherner, Joe, 30
Chicago, soda industry grants to, 232
childhood obesity, 107, 110, 203, 265
Chili’s, 68
China, indoor smoking bans in, 260
cholera, 23, 24
cholesterol, 45, 52
Christ, Kelly, 106, 118, 167, 205, 210, 269
chronic disease prevention, 25, 134–35, 256
behavioral/environmental approaches to, 2–3, 50, 101, 261–62, 267–68
Board of Health’s authority for, 51, 234, 236
industry opposition to, 135, 267–68
Silver’s strategic plan, 49–50, 103
UN conference (2011), 255–56
See also specific diseases and prevention initiatives
chronic diseases, 42, 67, 256
See also specific diseases and syndromes
cigarette industry. See tobacco industry
cigarette marketing. See tob
acco marketing
cigarette retailers
cigarette taxes and, 30
in-store warning signs, 143–45, 148–49, 192–93, 259
product display bans, 199–201, 238–39, 241–42, 247–49, 259
restrictions on, 141–42, 146–47
cigarette taxes, 19, 21, 30–31, 48, 62, 97–98, 156, 160
cigar sales restrictions, 202, 249
Clinton, Bill, 108, 212
CNN, 76
Coca-Cola, 152
Bronx Pilot program, 184
grants made to the city of Chicago, 232
and the portion cap rule, 215–18, 231–32
and the SNAP soda exclusion proposal, 181
and soda tax proposals, 158, 159, 160
Colbert, Stephen, 112, 211
Collins, Judy, 212
ConAgra, 165, 168, 183
Concannon, Kevin, 186–87
Congressional Black Caucus, 190, 191
Congressional Hunger Center, 183
Connecticut smoke-free legislation, 61
Consumers Union, 161
Cooney, Edward, 183
Cowley, Geoff, 137, 139, 151
Crisco, 44–45
Cuomo, Andrew, 191
Curtis, Christine, 126, 269
and salt reduction initiatives, 125–26, 127, 161, 167, 225, 226, 262
CVS, 146
Daines, Richard, 157, 160, 179, 186–87
day care centers, healthy food standards for, 107
De Blasio, Bill, 11, 181, 249, 269
and the soda portion cap rule, 211, 235
DeLauro, Rosa, 166
Delhaize America, 173
diabetes, 150, 156
diabetes prevention
soda tax and, 105
See also obesity prevention; soda taxes
diet. See healthy eating; obesity entries; trans fats ban
directly observed therapy (DOT), 12
Doar, Robert, 178, 179, 186–87
Doctoroff, Dan, 28, 29
doctors
health department’s personal outreach effort, 94
and heart disease prevention, 42–43
Primary Care Information Project, 9, 92, 94–97, 98–100, 169–73