Should The Government Care What I Eat?

I'm not being sarcastic, this is an honest question.  I liked it when I no longer had to deal with cigarette smoke when I went out to dinner (although I still feel bad for the huddled groups of smokers standing outside on cold winter days because their right to smoke inside was taken away).  But the new enemy of Americans is fast food and vending machines.  I know we have an obesity problem in this country, but I hate to see the government intervene in my eating habits. 

Why not go after some of the ingredients manufacturers are putting in my food?  MacDonalds french fries used to have sugar in them, do they still?  Obviously, french fries are not health food, but does sugar make it worse?  What about high fructose corn syrup?  It extends the shelf life of food and is cheaper than sugar, but what effect does that have on weight?  Is putting a label on something the way to discourage people from eating it?

In an article posted Friday, Politico is pointing out that:

"Buried deep in the House health care bill is a provision, likely to raise nanny-state hackles, requiring fast-food chains and vending machine owners to notify customers of calorie counts -- by conspicuously posting nutritional information on menus or machines.

"The provision -- Section 2572 -- requires retail food establishments "part of a chain with 20 or more locations" to list calorie counts "on the menu board including a drive-through board," as is currently required in New York City and other localities."

Do I want to see a calorie count when I go out to dinner?  (Just a note, when the calorie count law was enacted in New York City in chain restaurants, the calories consumed by each person dropped by about 106 fewer calories per purchase).   To calculate the actual result of that figure, you would have to know how often each person ate there, how many people were included in that purchase, etc. 

Aside from the fact that putting up calorie counts is expensive, I just don't like the idea of the government policing the food at my local chain restaurants.