Alarming obesity rates could be reduced with taxes

[patslatt]

Obesity is becoming a national epidemic,part of a global trend, and threatens to swamp the health services with diabetes and other obesity related illnesses. About 22% of Irish children are overweight according to a recent study of children as reported today Children from poor backgrounds more likely to be overweight - The Irish Times - Sat, Jul 11, 2009
Lack of exercise,overeating and excessive consumption of junk foods and sugary foods and sugary drinks are the principal causes.

It should be possible to deter this excessive consumption through the imposition of VAT tax on all retail products that contain sugar or sugar substitutes above a minimal threshhold. The tax can be justified on health grounds and,besides,the government needs the money. Even a special high rate of VAT at say 40% on such products could be justified on public health grounds. In addition,a tax on excessive salt above a certain threshhold in processed foods would encourage healthier processed foods.

Of course,there would be an outcry from the manufacturers about the economic loss to their business but that loss is dwarfed by public health costs.

[Digout]

Its all the processed crap that they get in supermarkets that are causing the problem. Seems very few people both to cook these days.

[SamVimesBoots]

Alarming obesity rates could be reduced with parents learning to cook fresh food instead of shovelling processed crap into their kids; and by parents - now bear with me, this one is fairly radical - allowing their kids to play outside without getting into irrational panics about paedophiles/drugs/diseases/being run over/being stabbed by other kids for their trainers/other ridiculous-scare-of-the-week

The current generation of parents are flippin muppets and have turned their kids into shambling maladjusted monstrosities.

[patslatt]

pure tripe

Brilliant intellectual riposte!

[CookieMonster]

Why, oh why, oh why so people feel the need to resort to taxing something to solve problems.

If you tax it it doesn't solve the problem, it just makes it more expensive. Fat people are not going to stop eating all the pies because they're more expensive. They're going to eat all the pies regardless. It just makes the occasional pie for the occasional pie eater more expensive.

Tax is not the solution to any problem.

[patslatt]

Its all the processed crap that they get in supermarkets that are causing the problem. Seems very few people both to cook these days.

Massive amounts of sugar are found in places you wouldn't expect,cornflakes for instance. There is a fair amount of sugar in pasta sauces which isn't disclosed on labels as far as I know.

[patslatt]

Why, oh why, oh why so people feel the need to resort to taxing something to solve problems.

If you tax it it doesn't solve the problem, it just makes it more expensive. Fat people are not going to stop eating all the pies because they're more expensive. They're going to eat all the pies regardless. It just makes the occasional pie for the occasional pie eater more expensive.

Tax is not the solution to any problem.

Wrong! As food costs dropped as a percentage of income over the last two generations in advanced economies,food consumption per head has risen,making people taller and fatter.

After WWII in the UK,the government became so concerned about how little people were eating that they gave companies tax breaks to give employees luncheon vouchers,LVs, to spend in restaurants. Today,the Brits are as fat as ourselves,so the LVs should be replaced with a voucher tax credit for skipping a meal!

[patslatt]

Alarming obesity rates could be reduced with parents learning to cook fresh food instead of shovelling processed crap into their kids; and by parents - now bear with me, this one is fairly radical - allowing their kids to play outside without getting into irrational panics about paedophiles/drugs/diseases/being run over/being stabbed by other kids for their trainers/other ridiculous-scare-of-the-week

The current generation of parents are flippin muppets and have turned their kids into shambling maladjusted monstrosities.

A lot of processed foods has excessive salt. A tax on excessive salt would incentivise healthier processed foods.

[DeGaulle 2.0]

What would be the effect if you stopped paying children's allowance for obese children?

[patslatt]

What would be the effect if you stopped paying children's allowance for obese children?

The family budget for food would be less,hence fewer calories and reduction in fat. But that would be a punitive and excessively intrusive sanction which would find no political support.

That said,I understand the NHS in the UK is applying some sanctions to obese people who do not follow doctors' orders to control their weight. They are told they will be far down the waiting lists for certain treatments.