{"data":{"id":"us-ny/n.y.-public-health-law-261","jurisdiction":"us-ny","citation":"N.Y. Public Health Law § 261","heading":"Legislative intent","body":"§ 261. Legislative intent. The legislature hereby finds, determines,\nand declares that obesity is a serious medical problem affecting up to\none-third of all Americans. In addition, a nineteen ninety-seven Kaiser\nPermanente study concluded that there is a significant potential for a\nreduction in health care expenditures through obesity prevention. In\naddition:\n  1. Obesity is known to cause or exacerbate a number of serious\ndisorders including hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease,\ndiabetes, respiratory dysfunction, gout, and osteoarthritis;\n  2. Nearly eighty percent of patients with diabetes mellitus are obese;\n  3. Nearly seventy percent of diagnosed cases of cardiovascular disease\nare related to obesity; and\n  4. Obesity ranks second only to smoking as a preventable cause of\ndeath, with some three hundred thousand deaths annually attributable to\nobesity.","path":["Public Health Law","Article 2. The Department of Health","Title 5*. Obesity Prevention Act"],"source_url":"https://legislation.nysenate.gov/api/3/laws/PBH/261","current_through":"2026-09-11","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T19:32:45Z","sha256":"5145f935b8b01cbf0e7ec0aacbf4bdd2eff3a86c1bbe854f5a0e69f2609d323a","source_id":"us-ny","stale":false,"prev":"us-ny/n.y.-public-health-law-260-2","next":"us-ny/n.y.-public-health-law-262"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}