Lawmakers in Mississippi — the most obese state in the nation — have overwhelmingly approved what they’re calling the “anti-Bloomberg bill.”

It would ban communities from requiring restaurants to post calorie counts on menus or limit portion sizes, as Mayor Bloomberg tried to do with his proposed ban on large sodas.  Also forbidden: any local rule banning toys from being distributed with kids’ meals.

The governor is expected to sign it.

Its author, state Sen. Tony Smith, owner of the Stonewall’s BBQ chain, which serves dishes like the Lil’ Piggy, said government has no business telling people what they cannot eat.

“If we give government a little more control of our personal rights – where does it stop?” he said.

If customers “want to supersize, they’re going to figure out how to do it, whether that means buying two or whatever,” said Smith, whose restaurants only service sodas 20-ounces at a time, a serving size that Bloomberg‘s ban would outlaw.

Mississippi passes ‘anti-Bloomberg bill,’ banning local limits on portion sizes and requirements to post calorie counts – NY Daily News

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Wednesday for the revival of a Soviet-era physical evaluation program that required all schoolchildren to pass fitness tests.

Putin, a judo enthusiast and a regular swimmer, said that the restoration of GTO, the Russian acronym for Ready for Labor and Defense, would teach children “to stand up for themselves, their family and, in the final run, the Fatherland.”

GTO, which was introduced in 1931 under Soviet dictator Josef Stalins rule, required all school and university students to regularly pass physical training tests. Those managing to qualify would receive silver- or gold-colored badges.

In its early years, the GTO program focused heavily on tests intended to make children ready for Red Army service. The program gradually lost its scope and prestige over the years and ceased to exist with the 1991 Soviet collapse. Since then, schools largely have been left on their own regarding physical education.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told a government meeting chaired by Putin that his agency would work to introduce the physical training standards nationwide by 2016.

Putin said that Russia needs to pay more attention to physical training because it lags behind other countries. He said that Russian children now are in “significantly worse” physical shape compared to a few decades ago.

Putin Urges Revival of Soviet-Era Fitness Tests – ABC News