Is it time to get tough on the overweight population? The obesity epidemic in America is out of control! Two out of every three people are obese, and that one guy who isn’t? Well he’s still on the hook for his two buddies' medical costs in the form of higher healthcare premiums and increased taxes. According to Forbes.com, the problem is that the cost of treating obesity related illnesses has skyrocketed. We're now spending a whopping $147 BILLION a year on treatment for overweight Americans. That's more than every single kind of cancer treatment combined.
There's a radical new solution being talked about - a “fat tax.” Basically, adding an extra tax on unhealthy foods, like chips, cookies and soda. The thinking is that if people are going to make bad food choices, they should pay the extra costs. Then that extra tax money would go to fund health care. Policy makers are also hoping that making bad foods more expensive will make people think twice about buying them. It’s the same idea the government used to curb smoking - by taxing cigarettes more.
Now the question is: How do you define unhealthy foods? An avocado has about the same amount of fat as a hamburger. Do they both go on the list? Well, the plan is to use a numerical scale to see whether a food’s bad content outweighs the good. However, many people believe that processed foods are cheaper than fresh foods – and may argue that that’s why they eat more junk food. According to our friend Dr. David Katz of the Yale School of Public Health, that’s just not true. He studied this recently and found that the average cost of a grocery cart full of healthy products was slightly less than a cart full of fattening, processed foods.
There's a radical new solution being talked about - a “fat tax.” Basically, adding an extra tax on unhealthy foods, like chips, cookies and soda. The thinking is that if people are going to make bad food choices, they should pay the extra costs. Then that extra tax money would go to fund health care. Policy makers are also hoping that making bad foods more expensive will make people think twice about buying them. It’s the same idea the government used to curb smoking - by taxing cigarettes more.
Now the question is: How do you define unhealthy foods? An avocado has about the same amount of fat as a hamburger. Do they both go on the list? Well, the plan is to use a numerical scale to see whether a food’s bad content outweighs the good. However, many people believe that processed foods are cheaper than fresh foods – and may argue that that’s why they eat more junk food. According to our friend Dr. David Katz of the Yale School of Public Health, that’s just not true. He studied this recently and found that the average cost of a grocery cart full of healthy products was slightly less than a cart full of fattening, processed foods.
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1 comment:
Great blog. I am a first time reader. You have some interesting topics going on. Obesity is a huge problem, and what's worse is that a study was recently done out of Princeton where moms were given money to food shop. Regardless of the price of veggies and healthier foods, moms continue to buy the junkie foods because they are cheap and easy to store. How sad. Thanks for the great blog!
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