From morning muffins that contain as much calories as a cupcake, to chocolate bars that have more than 600 calories, In America is no doubt extremely easy to get overweight. Recently, Health researchers are seeking to take legal ways to curb obesity--to impose taxes on high-fat food such as candy, soda and chips, so that consumers can give up “unhealthy diets”. This kind of tax on “unhealthy food” is called “fat tax”, which has raised great controversy in America. However, in my opinion, the government should not impose tax on fattening food, because not all high-fat food are considered unhealthy, it raised the cost of sugar products, and we should solve obesity issues in America and China.
First, it is difficult to label an “unhealthy food”,
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According to the Office for Budgetary Responsibility, UK government should levy 24 pence on drinks above 8g sugar per 100ml. For example, a 330ml can of Coca-Cola contains 35g sugar, which will be levied at 72 pence (nearly 0.7 pound). In total, 520 million pounds will be imposed on sugar industry (Triggle, 2016, para. 3). Although some experts who embrace this policy expect that people would shift their diets to healthier ones, some farmers working in sugar industry may lose their jobs because the costs of ingredients such as soybeans, beet and sugar canes would increase due to the extra product costs. Consequently, it fails to improve sustainability and maintain healthy relationships between sugar farms and farmers. For example, Danish farmers and sugar companies complained about high fat tax costs on their businesses and planned on protesting on the street. Moreover, extra tax worsens financial situations of low-income families who eat more junk food, because healthy food like fresh vegetables, meat and fruits are comparatively more expensive, let alone the cooking utensils they need to
Everyday Americans die from the diseases they carry from obesity. Many Americans overeat because of their social problems or because they are hereditary. Many plans have been discussed, but finding the solution is the problem. Junk foods and unhealthy beverages have corrupted children’s minds all over the nation, and putting a stop to it could lead to other benefits. Unhealthy foods and drinks should be taxed and healthy foods should be advertised to help prevent American obesity.
While nobody denies we have a problem with taxation in this country for food, beverages, and everything that we buy in general, I believe that we should have a fat tax to detour people from buying soda and other fattening foods. We should also ban sodas and other fattening foods from vending machines in schools, and replace them with more healthy selections.
"Why single out sugar-sweetened beverages when cookies, candy, and other products with lots of added sugar and fats are equally unhealthy, consumed in large quantities
Drenkard, S. (2010). Overreaching on Obesity: Governments Consider New Taxes on Soda and Candy. Retrieved from http://heartland.org
Obesity rates are significantly increasing in Canada and are a major concern when considering the health of Canadians. Throughout the Society, Individual, and Medicine (SIM) lectures, we learned that a quarter of the Canadian adult population is obese (Imbeault, 2016). Dr. Imbeault (2016) emphasized that when obesity rates from 1981 and 2009 were compared, obesity doubled in most age groups regardless of gender, even in young children. These were shocking numbers and made me realize how important it is for physicians to advocate for healthy nutrition and physical activity. This final statistic that Dr. Imbeault mentioned made me realize that change is not an option anymore, but a requirement to maintain quality of life for future generations. He (2016) said 63% of obese children continued
So far, implementing real life fat taxes has been a lot of trial and error. There have been very few fat taxes implemented in the world, and many have been unsuccessful. An example from Denmark shows how fat taxes fail as a result of improper administration. Denmark initiated the world’s first fat tax, and it has been used for the precedence of many studies. Their tax had an applied surcharge to foods containing 2.3 percent or more of saturated fat (Good Morning America 1). The tax was 16 kroner per kilogram or $2.90 per 2.2 pounds (Good Morning America 1). Even the final proposal for the Denmark fat tax was flawed because people believed the taxes on meat did not match up to the quality of meat
In the US from since the turn of the century, obesity has been a rising and very serious issue. In the 1980’s, western culture experienced a fitness surge, and the major food corporations began producing new products that were “fat free”, but the issue was fat free food did not taste as good so people would not buy it. To compensate the taste, the food companies replaced the fat with sugar.
Sugary soft drinks should be taxed in order to change people’s habit of drinking these towards the goal of
As a market failure, the obesity epidemic in America is costing the federal government billions of dollars annually. While most obesity prevention programs aim toward changing the rate of children who become obese, many fail, causing an inefficient allocation of government resources. Much of what 's already been done has proven to barely be a speed bump in the progression that is the obesity epidemic. Several solutions which can be explored to effective halt this progression. The taxation of certain unhealthy foods, government benefits and subsidies for organic produce farmers, and passing new legislation to regulate the amount of calories a fast food restaurant is allowed to serve you, just to name a few. These solutions, however, are only effective if they affect the lives of the majority of the population, therefore preventing obesity, whilst correctly allocating valuable government resources efficiently. ...
Governments would just be continuing to cause problems because another huge problem in America is there are already way too many people without jobs. When going to the store to get a soda, is there really much to think about when drinking sweetened goods has become a part of an everyday lifestyle. Why would someone suddenly put a tax on something which so many have loved and became addicted to. If there was a tax put on everything people have come to love there would be a huge tax for everything. Bittman does not think that putting a tax on sugar sweetened beverages would affect the jobs of people because he believes it would get made up by the selling of their other products. However it is important to realize that most places would not be passing this until 2018. Although, people really do need to realize what these sweetened products are doing and the reason why taxing for these goods is not looking so
...d,” (Bittman). Bittman uses these statistics to show how hyperprocessed foods and sugary beverages have impacts America. Since the percentage of obese individuals continuously rises, Bittman believes that the government should step in and protect the health of individuals by establishing a new tax on junk food. People sense the urgency within Bittman’s article, since he believes it is time for the government to step in. Throughout history people have always wanted to limit the control of the government and only sought their help in dire situations; therefore, if the government is becoming involved in the weight gain problem, it must be a big problem.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity now ranks as the 10th most important health problem in the world (“Obesity Seen as a Global Problem”). Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Centers for Disease Control and Protection estimates that obesity contributed to the deaths of 112,000 Americans in 2000 (“Obesity in the U.S. Fast”). It is estimated that annual medical care cost of obesity are as high as $147 billion (“Obesity in the U.S. Fast”). Government-provided food stamps are often expended on junk or fast food, because it tends to be less expensive than fresh or cook food. Governments fund producers of meat and dairy products to keep prices low. For now, governments are taking a smarter and more productive approach through regulation, and by working with manufacturers.
in any one aspect would be an unhealthy diet, in the same way that a
In America over 300,000 people are obese and that number continues to grow because the about of junk food that is being consumed. This cost the economy one hundred billion dollars. That more damage done than smoking or drinking. (Crowley, Michael 5) There are other health problems, such as heart diseases, chronic diseases, and type-two diabetes that occur because of junk food. Increasing the price of junk food, by adding tax, researchers hope that this will prod people to reject unhealthy foods. Taxes will also encourage a healthier lifestyle, even in low-income families (Franck, Caroline 2).
...k out of their home (Center n.d.). Modernization and development has left our working class people scrapping by to provide food for their families. To “solve” this, and increase their profits, corporations are now controlling the people’s nutritional needs. Since the development of the first sugar plantation businesses have been pumping sugar into our veins. We graciously accept this form of cheap nutrition because industrialization has left us inadequately prepared for survival in the fast paced consumer world. Simon Capewell, a professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Liverpool sums up the issue with sugar in modern time by saying, “Sugar is the new tobacco. Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health.” (NHS Choices: Your Health, Your Choices 2014).