'Fat tax' to fight obesity

News.com.au (Australia) ^ | June 9, 2003 | Rachel Morris

[SamAdams76]

BISCUITS, cakes and processed meals could be loaded with a "fat tax" as part of a shock tactic to combat Australia's spiralling obesity epidemic.

High-fat foods could be subject to the plan, which the Australian Medical Association says may be the way to reduce weight and ultimately save the health system billions.

The AMA will ask the Federal Government to consider the tax as part of an overall strategy to combat obesity. Recent studies have shown 47 per cent of women and 63 per of men are overweight or obese.

Diabetes Australia has also backed discussion of the plan at a federal level amid estimates more than one million Australians are afflicted by diabetes and that by 2010, 70 per cent of the population will be above their healthy weight range.

The British Medical Association has endorsed a similar plan to impose a 17.5 per cent value-added-tax on fatty food, except for takeaway meals which are already taxed. A similar tax has successfully been introduced on unsaturated fat products in Sri Lanka.

AMA vice president Mekesh Haikerwal said the doctors' group would be happy to put the tax idea "on the table" for discussion with the Federal Government.

A tax on fatty food would help to create a healthier society but "shock tactics" were needed to arrest the spread of obesity, he said.

"The discussion needs to be had," Dr Haikerwal said. "There needs to be a giant wake-up call, obesity is a major drain on our resources, on our health systems and workplaces."

Australian health ministers will meet next month to consider a national strategy to battle obesity levels with new evidence showing that within the next decade four-out-of-10 children will be overweight.

Diabetes Australia spokesman Alan Barclay said the plan was "definitely worth considering for the battle against diabetes". But he warned forcing companies to rethink the fat content of their products could result in foods high in sugar and starch.

There is already evidence some companies are changing the ingredients in snack foods. The recipe for Mars bars has been changed amid health fears over a fatty ingredient.

Hydrogenated vegetable fat has been removed from the popular chocolate bar because of its links with high cholesterol levels and heart disease.

"It needs to be targeted," Mr Barclay said. "Not all fats are bad for you."

He said there were about 600,000 registered diabetics in Australia with an estimated one million more undiagnosed or with pre-diabetes symptoms.

Diabetics spent an average of $10,000 a year on their condition, he said, with those with complications spending $20,000.

[SamAdams76]

Only a matter of time before this craziness hits the U.S. shores.

I agree that obesity and type 2 diabetes is a big problem but that is not justification for raising taxes.

[mewzilla]

What, your taxes and insurance premiums not high enough? :) 9 billion down the rathole to pay for obesity-related illnesses doesn't bug you? Let'em tax. If you don't eat the stuff, or much of it, what's the problem?

[SamAdams76]

Well you know the money is not going to defray our taxes and insurance premiums. Instead, it will go to support more social services and we will have more welfare families on food stamps going to the Piggly Wiggly and buying, you guessed it, more junk food.

[DannyTN]

How about this. Use the proceeds of the tax to subsidize healthier foods.

Part of the problems is that carbs are cheap. So almost every restaurant has them as part of their meals.

[wideminded]

Another reason that this is stupid is that so-called "low-fat" foods may be one of the major causes for the epidemic of obesity.

[Mark]

Use the proceeds of the tax to subsidize healthier foods.

Like the taxes on cigarettes were supposed to be directed, but ends up in the trough. We don't need the nanny state at all.

[CFC__VRWC]

Let'em tax. If you don't eat the stuff, or much of it, what's the problem?

The other side of the obesity equation is lack of exercise - should extra taxes be imposed on people whom the government says do not exercise enough?

[supercat]

I agree that obesity and type 2 diabetes is a big problem but that is not justification for raising taxes.

Especially targetting the taxes on fatty foods--whether high in glycemic carbohydrates or not--and exempting from the tax foods which contain large amounts of glycemic carbohydrate (or in some cases contain practically nothing but).

[KC_for_Freedom]

Taxing foodstuffs is the easy approach, but like the taxing tabaco and alcohol it misses the point. What you want to tax is people's bad behavior. (Real power comes from this approach)

What we should do is have an annual weigh-in, (April 15) and pay a tax on the pounds over and above the level of a hollywood leading man or women.

Of course we can expcet the left to complain, since some people have high metabolisms and will escape without paying the tax.

[Skywalk]

How about we continue to live in AMERICA, not some socialist nanny-state hellhole.

[SamAdams76]

You are right. Anything in the supermarket that is labeled "low-fat" or "no-fat" should be avoided. It's no good for you because the fat is replaced by carbs (usually in the form of sugar or other sweeteners) which are easily converted by the body into fat.

[supercat]

If you don't eat the stuff, or much of it, what's the problem?

The article suggests that the government is specifically targetting fat; as such, things like sausages are apt to be taxed more than bagels or pasta, despite the fact that the latter are for many people more likely to contribute to obesity.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Let'em tax. If you don't eat the stuff, or much of it, what's the problem?

PLEASE make a profile page, I'm praying you're a yankee liberal.

[visualops]

It's ridiculous to penalize everyone because some people have no sense of proportion or self-control.
If you can't say no to the 'super-size', then you deserve whatever comes with it.
You cannot legislate or tax people into common sense. The current need for tort reform should teach everyone that.
Why don't they just freaking ration all the food? Then the commies can tell us exactly what to eat and how much.

[CFC__VRWC]

And then of course the states will want a piece of the action, and they'll impose their own fat taxes to fund (they'll say) "children's health programs." Of course, the money will really be used to keep adding new spending programs with which to buy even more votes.

[Guillermo]

Somehow I doubt a rationing program would include fat pigs like Jerrold Nadler and Michael Moore...

[savedbygrace]

If this gets passed, they're gonna wish they had their guns back.

[ClayHellion]

Amen, this is stupid. Low fat does not equal healthy. Nor does high fat equal unhealthy. The latest information tells us that it depends on the types of fats and carbs. Of course, that latest information will be outdated in a few weeks....

[najida]

Yep....

For a new bit of info to be considered valid, there needs to be multiple (like 10) prolonged studies that all say about the same thing.

Me and my crowd are waiting on more info before we change what we teach.

[Shooter 2.5]

"Hydrogenated vegetable fat has been removed from the popular chocolate bar because of its links with high cholesterol levels and heart disease.

Thank God. This has nothing to do with losing weight. This is about removing a substance in foods that bonds the plaque onto your arteries just so a snack food can taste crispy.