Pros And Cons Of Obesity: The Fat Tax

As an American I love my fair share of greasy foods. Like most Americans I enjoy eating at food fattening restaurants like Chick fil- a, Sonic Drive-in, and not to forget Mc Donald’s. Almost every other week would be spent at Mc Donald’s where I would usually get the 10 piece chicken nuggets with medium fries, a sprite, and five different dipping sauces. Many people who follow the same routine do not suffer from high blood pressure or obesity, which brings me to the issue that taxing obese people for being overweight is an idea, but may need to be reevaluated as a solution. After looking into the article “The Fat Tax: A Modest Proposal” by Johnathan Rauch from The Atlantic he mentions the fact that many fast food companies are increasing the rates of being obese by instituting larger cups, food portions, and serving more buttered bread.

There is what has been referred to as "obesity epidemic" in Australia today. This trend affects everyone it the society; whether it be directly or indirectly. One particular concern within the "at risk" segment is children. The young in our society do not have the capacity, either mentally or the physical resources, to make their own informed decisions about their dietary consumption. Children are generally dependent upon their parents or institutions to provide them with the foods that they consume. Therefore, this group above all others deserves some level of protection against a lifestyle that can potentially have negative consequences for their health that can stay with them for a lifetime.

As many Americans know, there is currently an obesity epidemic that is sweeping the nation. With more food advertisements, bigger portion sizes, and Americans eating more calories than ever before; Linder makes his viewpoint very clear on how this is negatively affecting our nation. In his article “Fat of the Land”, Linder looks at all of the possible leading factors on who is to blame on the current situation in resulting of more than 60% of adults in America being overweight. The main contributing people to blame for the obesity epidemic is of course, the fast food industry. Linder’s main argument starts with his comparison of American’s calorie intake in the 1950’s, than comparing it to today. With stating the other side’s viewpoint on while advertisements and marketing are always surrounding the world around us; it is not forcing us to do anything. With his basic statement claiming that people will be people and at the end of the day, it’s their decision if they want to eat that 1,000 calorie filled Big Mac from McDonalds. Linder does a substantial job at informing the reader about the many dangers causing obesity, while also persuading them by giving tips to lead a well-balanced, healthier lifestyle.

The United States of America is known for having a high obesity level. According to David Frum from CNN, except for Mexicans, American citizens are more likely to become obese than any other nationality. Some obese countries have enforced an extra high tax on fast foods and other high calorie foods, and many people believe that the U.S. should adopt the fat tax as well. According to Dictionary.com, the fat tax is “a tax imposed on or proposed for high-fat or otherwise unhealthy foodstuffs”. Although a tax on junk food could reduce obesity, the low prices could protect low income families from going broke, and therefore a tax on junk food would not be beneficial to America.

Two-thirds of Americans are overweight. This fact is known that we need to do something about our health and obesity rate. An option that has been brought up time and time again is the Fat Tax. This would be a small tax applied to fatty and unhealthy food. Ideally, this tax would decrease consumption of things like fast food. Despite the well intentioned idea, things like this don’t always work. The Fat Tax would cause impoverish people to fall deeper into financial trouble and cost the government more on welfare as well as well as barely decreasing the actual obesity rate.

As a country, we are very accustomed to having everything needed readily available to us. In most cases, we can easily drive a few minutes out of the way and be able to find a selection of various places to shop or eat at. Despite the food being fast and easy to access, we tend to compromise our health in turn. In a recent study conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, it is believed that 1 in 4 Americans eat fast food for at least one meal of the day. Since this is such a controversial topic, most people differ in opinions. In this paper, I am going to discuss two articles that argued different sides on the controversial topic of taxation upon fast food purchases.

According to the media article, Whose Fault is our Fat? Obesity solely stems from Americans not participating in enough physical activity. On the other hand, Family Stressors and Child Obesity, attributes the stem of childhood obesity to stressors, particularly family stressors. Another possible explanation for obesity, other than Americans not getting enough physical activity or stressors, comes from the movie, watched in lecture, The Weight of the Nation. This movie makes the connection of rates of obesity to living in poverty areas. The movie also firmly believes that Americans are turning to quick, processed, and readily made meals, instead of healthy food options.

There is an epidemic striking the United States. This epidemic, one of obesity, can contribute much of its growth over the last half century to one common link: junk food. Michael Thomas, correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, doubts the effectiveness of imposing a “junk food” tax in an attempt to curb obesity. With support from respected scientists in the nutrition field, like Dr. Oliver Mytton, Mr. Thomas could not be more wrong. While people like Thomas believe there is little hope to solve this problem, in reality a junk food tax is the best approach we can take. If the government intervenes with taxation on unhealthy foods, there will be a less consumer demand for this food group and would mark a significant step in controlling the obesity epidemic.

The obesity epidemic is rapidly advancing in the U.S., leading to physical and mental health problems as well as having financial impacts. Although there are existing federal programs and policies that address the obesity problem, these policies do not seem to account for the urgency of the current situation. It is essential to examine new policy strategies to combat the growing threat of obesity. Policy strategies explored in this paper include implementation of federal subsidization of healthy meals and taxation on fast food.

While some believe that creating a calorie tax will promote healthy eating lifestyles and decrease obesity rates, the idea of imposing a tax on what people eat is very irrational due to there being better alternatives, many consequences and reverse effects, and also this tax was meant to target obese people, not average weight people. Calorie taxes are being introduced to the US because it can potentially help people save money, reduce calorie consumption, and also it can decrease obesity rates. Sadly this calorie tax also has many flaws, there are many other alternatives to this and also there being no drop in obesity rates in several years. Also, this calorie tax can actually increase calorie consumption rather than decreasing it, not only

The issue of obesity has become one of the latest challenges that the USA is struggling with. This struggle cuts across many of the food manufactures, restaurant chains as well as chefs and all the people and organizations related to the food industry. Peoples' feeling tend to be really mixed up. Fatness is always a situation that may be loathed and on the other hand a condition to be accepted by some, though it can be a medical contagion, it as well tends to be somebody's choice of lifestyle. It is a condition which is defined by body mass index, coercive fashion or self esteem. At some point it can be addressed as dark shadow cast by poor eating habits in the U.S. that is now haunting the citizens of U.S.

The fat tax in America; an attempt to improve the obesity epidemic using the legislature. The fat tax will not cure obesity in America however, one idea is it will be used as an incentive to help improve the eating habits of Americans. The revenue collected can be used to enhance education as well as implement programs to teach healthy lifestyle tips such as exercise, and even implementing gyms in places like community centers. Another suggestion is to reduce cost of healthy foods using some of the tax money. As a result of the healthy habits of the population, Medicare and Medicaid may be less stressed resulting in less expenses. This could lead to less government debt as well as a healthier population. The percentage of obese adults doubled in the last thirty years, and obesity in children tripled. The cost of obesity annually is 100 billion dollars due to medical issued.

According to economic help, having a fat tax can help raise revenue for the government. This money will help the government financially and help them make the country a better and efficient place to live. Not only will it help the government, it will help the people in the United States. It will reduce the amount of money spent on healthcare each year. According to CMS (here), our National Healthcare Expenditure (NHE) is projected to hit $3.207 trillion this year. This tells us that Americans spend a lot of money on healthcare. If we add a fat tax on unhealthy foods we can cut down a lot of money that we spend on healthcare. This will not only benefit us it will also ensure that people in the United States are having a healthy and nutritious diet. Besides, there are about eight other countries that have a fat tax and they seem to be doing very well. Their health care cost has gone down and their fitness level has gone up. According to Economics Help, if people are healthy and fit it can actually raise the economy because people will be more active and they will take very few leaves which will increase production. Many people are worried that there will be a loss of jobs if a fat tax is applied, but in reality, it could help the economy and make the people living in the United States

Obesity has grown into a major epidemic, not only in the United States, but world-wide. Children and adults everywhere are suffering from the symptoms associated with obesity; diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, arthritis, and strokes. Obesity has affected one-third of adults in the U.S., which leaves two-thirds over weight (Hammond & Levine, 2010). In order to fully understand the impact of obesity in our society we will need to discuss economic theory in regards to supply and demand for diagnosis and treatment costs, how Medicare and Medicaid funds are impacted on a state level, and what steps must be taken to reduce health care costs associated with obesity.

Sadly, most of those children’s comes from underprivileged families. A “fat tax” can help change the life style of underprivileged families since it will give the opportunity for them to buy healthier foods instead of fast food. After a long day of work, the underprivileged arrives home very tired and with a low source of income so instead of making a healthy homemade meal, they take out their family out to eat at a fast food restaurant. Those children have no decision on they should eat due to their parents low income, in addition " ...The greater the proportion of a child’s life that is spent in poverty from birth to age 9 years, the more likely that child is to follow a trajectory toward obesity from childhood to early adulthood" (Wells 2507). It’s quite tragic that about a third of children in America are obese or overweight. Underprivileged parents can stop feeding their children fast food if a “fat tax” is added, if not, their children might end up doing the same thing to their children since it’s a habit passed on by generation. If a “fat tax” is added on fast food establishments, by the next few decades, many Americans would not have to suffer from