Jackson Free Press

"Oh, Bloomberg is not around. Our Big Gulp is safe! We're cool. Shoot, it's just pop!"

—Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference March 16.

Why it stinks: Palin was making fun of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attempt to reduce obesity by limiting the availability of large sugary drinks.

"[I]ncreasing serving sizes are one of the causes of the nation's obesity epidemic," Think Progress reported. "As portion sizes have spiraled out of control, soft drinks sizes have seen one of the largest increases, ballooning by over 50 percent since the mid-1970s, just as rates of obesity nearly tripled. The average American child now consumes approximately 270 calories from soft drinks each day and nationally U.S. children drink about 7 trillion calories from soda each year."

The well-cited story says that the obesity epidemic accounts for 21 percent of national health-care spending, amounting to more than $160 billion per year and rising. "[W]hile Bloomberg's ban won't single-handedly slim down the nation, public health advocates believe that it will discourage people from consuming 'excess quantities of sugar-sweetened beverages' and change 'social norms and unhealthy behaviors,'" Think Progress added.