Unit title: Excise PG
Introduction
Obesity is a result of a combination of genetics, social behavior and individual choice. It is not a simple moral problem, regardless to what people who have an easy time remaining skinny will tell. Because it is not a simple moral problem it does not respond well to extreme punitive measures. Instead it seems to be best treated with persistent understanding and gentle nagging accompanied by harm reduction strategies for gaining fit shape. Current nutrition behaviors depending on fatty fast food and highly-content sugary beverages are one of most factors that lead to obesity. High in calories, sodium, fat and cholesterol, fast foods increase the risk of obesity, coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and cancer. Unfortunately, a major indicator of development in developing countries, countries-in-transition, and urbanizing rural areas is the appearance of the highly advertised fast food chains which stir the appetite of consumers to buy more and more of these products.
What is meant by fast food?
Fast food mains “food that can be prepared and served to customers quickly.” It should be mentioned that any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, normally it indicates to certain kinds of food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away.
What are measures taken by governments to cut the consumption of fast food and sugary drinks?
Now a days and with the increasing vigor, public health experts are calling for extra taxes on foods and drinks that are highly calories and fats content and with light or low value on nutrition. Officials worldwide propose imposing taxes on junk foods and drinks as they are harmful to health and affect the nutrition behavior of generations. For example, “New York Gov. David Paterson proposed an 18% soda tax last year as a budget-balancing measure, only to abandon it three months later in the face of stiff public opposition.”
There should be new legislations which are merely needed to prevent people suffering from obesity due to unhealthy foods and drinks. A ban on marketing fatty, salty and sugary products is one of the options supported by nutrition specialist’s studies. Specialists calling for worldwide promotion of healthy foods and a possible “fat tax” on junk food advertising should be backed by government’s legislations supporting their ideas. Nutrition experts urge firms to limit the use of salt, sugars, artificial flavouring and colouring in products aimed at children at the latest.
In the USA, the obesity epidemic has become as a public health crisis and overweight adults are starting to suffer problems such as early heart disease and type 2 diabetes. While restaurant managers and food and soda makers promote personal responsibility and moderation, backers of the taxes say levies on foods that quickly add extra pounds are a necessary part of any successful anti-obesity effort. Specialists suggest taxes could help offset the estimated $147 billion cost of treating obesity-related diseases and fund programs to battle the expanding girths of Americans. “Junk food taxes give the opportunity to boost taxes under the guise of doing well,” says Bob Goldin, executive vice president at restaurant consulting firm Technomic. “The train has left the station,” Goldin added. (This is Mohammad’s 2010)
Health care makes the case that a sin tax on bad food isn’t out of the realm of possibility in a country that offers food subsidies for things like corn.
“Besides adding surcharges to unhealthful foods, we should also consider the more positive side of the coin, food subsidies. Sadly, we are currently subsidizing the wrong things including the production of corn, which makes the corn syrup in sweetened beverages so inexpensive. Evidence suggests that lowering the price of fruits and vegetables would increase their consumption among youth. Therefore, agricultural subsidies should be used to make healthful foods such as locally grown vegetables, fruits, and whole grains less expensive.” (This is taken from the editorial by Dr. Mitchell H. Katz and Dr. Rajiv Bahatia of the San Francisco Department of Public Health)
There should be new legislations which are merely needed to prevent people suffering from obesity due to unhealthy foods and drinks. A ban on marketing fatty, salty and sugary products is one of the options supported by nutrition specialist’s studies. Specialists calling for promotion of healthy foods and a possible “fat tax” on junk food advertising should be backed by government’s legislations supporting their ideas. Nutrition experts urge firms to limit the use of salt, sugars, artificial flavouring and colouring in products aimed at children at the latest.
New York Governor David Paterson resurrected the idea of a tax on sugared beverages a year after the city rejected a similar proposal. But this time around the idea has added financial impetus as the city has a $7.4bn budget gap between revenues and spending to close.
Mr. Michael Bloomberg, the New York City mayor, praised the new soda tax proposal calling it a “far-sighted” move that will help stem the obesity problem and provide much needed revenue.
He told a state senate committee: “Today, more than half the residents of New York City, and nearly 40 percent of our public school students, are overweight, many of them seriously so. That puts them dangerously on track to contracting diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, asthma, depression, and other serious health problems later in their lives.
“It’s in the interest of us all to prevent that from happening now – and the surest pathway to changing behavior is through the wallet.”
Many European nutrition experts requested that their governments should impose taxes to evade obesity as a result of having fast food which contain high calories and fats. This initiative came from Romania and it will be disseminated to cover all European States.
There are increasingly vocal calls for imposing taxes on foods and drinks which are fueling a behind- the-scenes battle that international public health officials say is reminiscent of the world’s war on cigarettes. Fueling the debate are revenue-hungry governments officials who are eying a potential $ billions windfall from taxes on over 10 years.
I think that junk food have to be taxed as people’s junk food is inevitably doing the most harm and damage to the people’s health. Junk foods increase the level of calorie intake and too much of it can cause Obesity, as well as there will be increased risk of heart problems as well as Diabetes, High BP . In addition to that some of the junk food is not very easily digestible and heavy on stomach. Many of these people suffer early strokes & heart attacks that often require decades of expensive medical care. There must be several million of them that are partially paralyzed or brain damaged or worse. Needless to say these unfortunates are in many cases unable to work so they collect disability as well.
Taxes on junk-food are to be levied as a tangible way to assist fund a restructuring of the healthcare system, therefore it is easy for governments to pass and endorse legislations that organize the way on how and why to impose such taxes.
“The notion is catching on with the general public, however. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll last month found that 55% of respondents favored a tax on unhealthful snack foods, up from 52% in April 2009. Support for a soda tax rose to 53% from 46%. And 63% of those who opposed the idea said they would change their minds if the revenue were used to fund healthcare reform and combat health problems related to obesity”.
A report this summer from the American Urban Institute (AUI) said such taxes are needed to ensure that rising obesity rates don’t cause the average American life expectancy to fall for the first time in history.
Mary Story, a dietitian and public health professor at the University of Minnesota, mentioned figures of a 10 percent increase in sugar-sweetened drinks prices may have the effect in reducing the consumption by 8 percent to 10 percent.
“Imposing taxation by the ounce might be more effective than a flat tax because it would put a larger burden on bigger soda bottles, which often sell for much less money per ounce”, said Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center For Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.
“It’s just a matter of time” before taxes come into effect, said Brownell, who published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in April (2009) arguing for a tax on sweet drinks. (Mohammad 2010 of Kelly Brownell)
The University of Virginia pediatric cardiologist Arthur Garson said.”We are killing 100,000 people per year, so something needs to get done,” Many citizens object to such “nanny state” attempts at social engineering.
“This is the most ridiculous idea I’ve heard,” said Kellie Glass, a registered dietitian in Ashland, Ky., who doesn’t care to be penalized for indulging in ice cream now and then. “Folks are just not going to give up all the foods they love, even if they are more expensive.”
Still, the logic of a junk-food tax seems clear. Fattening foods tend to be cheap, and fresh produce and lean cuts of meat are often the priciest. A tax could help offset that imbalance, nudging people to eat more of what they should and less of what they shouldn’t.
On the other hand, such tax on junk foods is likely to fall hardest on poor citizens, whose diet disproportionately consists of cheap nutritionally-deficient, high-calorie foods. Fiction writer Julie Cochrane of Marshall, Va. said: “I am not about to raise taxes on a single mom scraping by on a low-wage job.” I think this is one of those cases where a regressive tax is perfectly fine provided the revenue is redistributed via progressive policies. It will be good with levying a food tax which disproportionately affected lower income people if those revenues were then used to subsidize produce for the welfare of people. “We think these type of restrictive tax penalizes consumers for enjoying their favorite foods,” said Katherine Kim, spokeswoman for the NRA. Such tax may also cause troubles to workers at fast food places. “You’re already penalizing the consumers, but this could also put at risk the livelihood of the workers if sales fall,” she added.
In a bigger city like New York which banned artery-clogging trans fats from restaurants, required some chain restaurants to publicly post the calorie content of the food they serve and banned smoking in all restaurants. Now, on the heels of a new American Heart Association recommendation to dramatically cut dietary sugar intake, New York City’s health department is launching an anti-sugary drink ad campaign that reads: “Are you pouring on the pounds? Don’t drink yourself fat.
Some agencies warn that taxes on sugary drinks would have a “negative impact on American families struggling in this economy.” A narrator on its television ads, which feature a family camping trip, says: “Taxes never made anyone healthy. Education, exercise and balanced diets do that.”
Many people believe that imposing taxes on unhealthy food is a not good and acceptable idea. They believe so because they don’t like strong government but also because when that happens, they don’t get to the root of the problem. In this concern, I do think that education is the corner stone. Really, people need a swift alteration in their attitude towards junk foods and drinks. People really should take an interest in the relationship with them instead. Levying the tax will be only a “quick fix” which will not fix anything. Those who can afford whatever tax is added will still eat junk food if they so choose.
The bitter battle people say that imposing such new “sin tax” plans would affect the nations and turn them into nanny states, hurt business, threaten an already weak economy and place an unfair burden on low-income shoppers. And groups such as association’s opponent to food taxes will be organizing strikes.
References:
The reading materials
http://www.smartmoney.com/investing/economy/junk-food-taxes-offer-slim-benefits/?mod=smartmoney).
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5806E520090901
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/content/view/print/275202
http://www.google.com/gwt/x?q=+taxex+of+fast+food&resnum
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5806E520090901
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/health/2010/03/junk_food_tax_soda_tax_and_hea.htm