In late March, New York City will begin requiring that chain restaurants list calorie counts next to menu items, furthering the recent trend towards a healthier population. The smoking ban worked, and so has the banning of trans-fats from restaurants. This latest measure, goes the theory, will cause diners to think twice before buying a Double Whopper with cheese, for example, which packs a whopping 942 calories.

Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, city health commissioner, said in the news release that the the Board of Health hopes this "will help New Yorkers make healthier choices about what to eat, living longer, healthier lives as a result."

Like the trans-fats and smoking bans before it, this effort didn't happen overnight. It took months of litigation, and controversey surrounding the new requirement still runs high. Dr. David Allison, incoming president of the Obesity Society, an organization of doctors and scientists based in Silver Spring, Maryland, is protesting the law, claiming that it may backfire. Allison wrote a 31-page affadavit arguing that if people are discouraged from buying an item -- say, a milkshake or a burrito with extra guacamole -- because of their high calorie counts, they'll only gorge later to satisfy their hunger. As a result, the ostensible aim of the law will lead only to a greater obesity problem instead of curbing it.

But here's the thing: Dr. Allison was paid by the New York Restaurant Association to write the document, and the Association is suing the city for creating the law. And though he won't say how much he was paid, he insists that his interest is in the "truth" -- not the money.

As an academic, he might be telling the truth there. But the evidence is mounting against him, and the number of concerns that support the law -- including Public Citizen, the American Heart Association, and the American Medical Association -- are starting to shame Allison by that support alone.

All this reminds me of a scene in Woody Allen's futuristic comedy Sleeper, in which Allen is offered a cigarette by a doctor and advised to be sure and "get the smoke deep down" into his lungs. When Allen refuses the smoke, his doctor exclaims, "It's tobacco! It's one of the healthiest things for your body."

Let's hope Sleeper doesn't become a reality, and in 50 years our doctors are feeding us Whoppers in the ER.