Essay On Fat Tax

Negative - Fat Tax

Let's be honest, obesity is caused by more factors than over-eating and consumption of excess calories. Obesity is also frequently linked to genetic factors and lack of exercise. Food is a necessity. Administering a cigarette tax model to all sweetened or fatty foods to combat obesity is neither logical nor practical. It would be more successful to tax calories per food item or directly tax citizens according to their weight or body mass index. However, both of these actions would be publicly unpopular and morally problematic, but so would a tax on food if it were set at a level considered to significantly affect obesity. Therefore, we firmly stand in opposition of Resolved: There should be a “fat tax” on all sweetened or fatty foods.

The definition of a fat tax is, “a specific tax placed on foods considered to be unhealthy and contribute towards obesity. A fat tax would be similar in principle to a cigarette or alcohol tax.”(economicshelp.org). Contrary to a cigarette tax though, it would be significantly more difficult to change America's eating habits by taxation or control of fatty and sugary foods.

Which leads to our first contention, fatty foods are not the only factors that influence obesity and

related life threatening diseases. Numerous studies have shown there is no connection between eating fatty food and heart disease. Several hundred million dollars were spent by The National Institute of Health to demonstrate a link between the eating of fatty food and getting heart disease. Five major studies failed to prove it. In addition, similar work was conducted by the Women’s Health Initiative; the New England Journal of Medicine published seven studies that found, “no link between dietary fat intake and the incidence of breast cancer.” Obesity is as much about a lack of exercise as it is about diet, eating behaviors and portion size. For example, most primary students get less that one hour of physical education each week, and in high school the course is not required. A better solution to a fat tax might be to offer discounted gym memberships and weight loss programs to encourage exercise and better eating behaviors to combat obesity.

Furthermore, the US federal government piloted a program in public schools to try to change the “unhealthy” way American students ate, by banning fattened foods and serving healthy foods. The outcome was disastrous, the kids simply stopped eating at lunch time and the costlier, healthier food was tossed in the garbage. The United States is not the only country to impose a fat tax. Denmark introduced a fat tax in October 2011 on food items with more than 2.3% saturated fat. However, in November 2012, the Danish Tax Ministry abolished the tax, stating that, “it had failed to change the Danes’ eating habits, and had encouraged cross-border trading into Sweden and Germany to take advantage of the lower food prices, putting Danish jobs at risk and had been a bureaucratic nightmare for producers and outlets.”(Thor Möger Pedersen, Danish Minister of Food). Mr. Pedersen stated, “Now we have to try to improve public health by other means.” If Denmark’s fat tax failed, would a fat tax succeed in America?

This leads to our second contention; an added tax on what the government considers fatty, unhealthy food will significantly impact the population who cannot afford healthy food, due to income constraints. Few people like paying taxes, and on top of regular taxes, a fat tax would be upsetting to many, especially when paying for necessary food staples. “The foods targeted by the fat tax make up a high percent of a household budget because energy-dense, nutrition-poor foods are cheaper per calorie and are sometimes more available than healthier options.”(bbc.com). Unfortunately, foods burdened with a fat tax, would still remain cheaper than healthy or even organic food, thus most consumers would not change their eating habits. People who cannot afford healthy food would continue to buy fatty foods. The result is financially penalizing them without any dietary gain. Instead of implementing a fat tax, the government should consider offering a subsidy on healthy fruit and vegetables to make them more affordable which will ultimately change eating behaviors and reduce obesity.
In conclusion, as health-care providers and politicians battle to deal with the nation’s ongoing obesity outbreak, the debate is ongoing on whether “harmful”, fatty foods would motivate us to eat better.

Thus we stand in firm opposition of Resolved: There should be a “fat tax” on all sweetened or fatty foods. A fat tax is a slippery slope. After the government implements a fat tax, what stops airlines from unfairly charging passengers based on weight? Singling out specific items in our diet to tax is a poor method to combat obesity. The solution to the obesity problem will not come from a government imposed food tax. The solution to obesity will come from consumers making good decisions about their own diets, exercise and health

needs.