The names read like a who’s who of diet tycoons.
There was David Burwick, the president of Weight Watchers North America; Dana Fiser, the chief executive of the weight-loss program Jenny Craig; Dr. Arthur Agatston, the inventor of the South Beach Diet; Dr. Howard Shapiro, the founder of Picture Perfect Weight Loss; Dr. Pierre Dukan, the creator of the protein-based Dukan Diet that has taken France by storm; and Bob Greene, the founder of the Best Life diet regimen, who is best known for being Oprah Winfrey’s personal trainer.
Like movie stars lining up to endorse the next big celebrity workout, the weight-loss specialists have all thrown their support behind Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposal to limit sales of big sugary drinks.
Announced a little more than a week before the New York City Board of Health is to vote on the restriction, the endorsements are the latest sally in the mayor’s public relations offensive on behalf of the proposal, which has reignited a national debate over obesity and drawn criticism from soft-drink industry officials who say the ban would deprive consumers of free choice.
And in an accompanying news release, the mayor’s office presented upbeat statements from five other weight-loss industry moguls — one after another, like glowing blurbs on a best seller.
“Our portion sizes are becoming ridiculous, bordering on vulgar, and the mayor is stepping up and telling it like it is,” said Dr. Shapiro, who founded Picture Perfect Weight Loss.
Many of the endorsers were careful to frame the proposal not as a restriction on choices but as a way to nudge New Yorkers toward controlling their portion sizes — a tenet of many weight-loss programs. Mr. Bloomberg seemed to be trying to reclaim the concept of “choice,” which has become a catchphrase of the soda proposal’s opponents, like New Yorkers for Beverage Choices, a group sponsored by the soda industry.
But the opponents were not convinced.