It kind of sounds like a joke: So, a lady walks into a restaurant in Mississippi and says, "Hey, can I get some service here?"

The manager looks her up and down and says, "Sorry. You're too fat."

"What? It's against the law to eat out if you're fat?" she asks.

"As a matter of fact ..." he says.

That could have been reality if a few Mississippi lawmakers had had their way this past year. They introduced a bill that would have made it illegal for restaurants to serve obese people.

The bill, which was killed in committee, shows you just how far lawmakers are willing to go to police fat people. As the obesity rate in the country continues to rise, local governments are increasingly responding with taxes, bans and even laws that try to rein in overeating.

The ideas go from making a lot of sense to really wacky. So, here's how governments across the country are dealing with the obesity issue:

Where we lead, others follow: Here in New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson championed taking sugary treats and drinks out of school snack machines. Other states are looking at similar proposals, especially after one study found that half of students in New York City schools were overweight. My thoughts: I'm all for freedom to choose what you want to eat — unless you're a kid. While you're in our schools, you'll eat what we tell you and like it.

Controlling the source: The Los Angeles City Council recently passed a yearlong moratorium on new fast-food businesses in one of the poorest neighborhoods in LA. One study found that 73 percent of South Los Angeles restaurants serve fast food, compared to
42 percent in more middle-class West Los Angeles. The city council thought these numbers might explain why the area's obesity rate is 30 percent, while the national rate is about 26.6 percent. While the ban is in place, city councilors will try to encourage healthier eateries to build in the area. My thoughts: I go to McDonald's for two reasons — it's cheap and I don't have to get out of the car. If they can find a drive-up salad bar that meets this same criteria, I'm all for it.

Thought provoking: Would you eat a plate of pasta if you knew it was 1,200 calories? The city of New York discovered the answer many times was "no" after enacting a law that required chain restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus.

At one restaurant, according The New York Times, the most popular item pre-law was the grilled chicken and smoked mozzarella tartine, which has 690 calories. Post-law, it became the more expensive Atlantic smoked salmon tartine, with
350 calories.

In September, California followed suit and more than a dozen other states are considering similar regulations. The U.S. Congress is scheduled to look at creating a comparable national law during its next session. My thoughts: Putting calories on menus may not be a comprehensive solution, but it will at least make people aware of what they are eating.

Hitting below the money belt: American kids see
approximately 40,000 food advertisements per year and
72 percent of those are for candy, cereal and fast food, according to a study by the New England Journal of Medicine. In an effort to cut down on that exposure, some states are trying to tax ads that promote junk food to children. Other suggestions include taxing sedentary living items, such as movie tickets, video games and DVD rentals. My thoughts: What if a critic declares a movie "a pulse-pounding adrenaline rush?" I shouldn't have to pay the tax since sitting for two-hours in the theater would be the same as working out.

Scary school check up: A bill in Maine would have required schools to do a yearly check of the body mass index of kids in kindergarten and grades one, three, seven and nine. Parents then would be informed of a child's fat status "appropriately and sensitively." My thoughts: Clearly none of the people advocating this bill have ever been in middle school. I would have died of embarrassment if my body fat had been brought up in any way when I was a pre-teen. Totally. OMG.

Funny if he wasn't serious: Eric Topol isn't a lawmaker. He's just a cardiologist from the Cleveland Clinic who thinks there should be a law requiring a weigh-in for Americans as they file their taxes. Those who are the correct weight would get an additional tax credit. And overweight people? "The people ruining our health care economics would pay the standard tax," Topol said in a Washington Post article. "People who are able to be disciplined and lose weight should be rewarded." My thoughts include an addendum to my living will: If at any point during my care I should need to see a cardiologist, please ensure it is not Dr. Eric Topol. I prefer to judged once I get to heaven — not before.

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"Calories on the menu" laws are facing some stiff opposition, among them Harvard University administrators. Find out more in Christine's blog at etastesantafe.com.

Christine Barber is a pre-medical student at The University of New Mexico. Contact her
at tlg@sfnewmexican.com.