Would taxing unhealthy foods help fight obesity?

[jack1924]

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

Aside from intent, feasibility? Because:

• huge market relying on unhealthy food to generate profit
• historical food customs relying on fat/salt/sugar
• anxiety is the reason why people compensate with food

Solving all these problems with taxes, in a country allergic to taxes? Well... It doesn't sound very good 😅

[DryGermanGuy]

Yeah, it has been proven to have positive impact. See the sugar tax in the United Kingdom. Germany has similar initiatives, like the food traffic lights.

[jack1924]

Yeah, that’s what I am seeing too

[purplepoppy]

Unless it's a crippling tax then no, people will just divert money from other areas of their budget. The fact is vegetables are extremely cheap but people can't be bothered to cook them. With meats we need to get the traditional budget cuts like shoulder and brisket back down in price.

[GOLDFISH_smile]

No. Making healthy foods comparable price to unhealthy ones and available in the same areas would tho.

[Massageman]

They already do tax many junk foods higher than "real" foods and it doesn't seem to help.

[Pete671]

imho no such thing as a food that is inherently unhealthy, it's more about balance,,,

Restricting availability of fast foods would help more,,,

But perhaps taxing "unhealthy" foods and subsidising "healthy" foods could help,,,

[Nikki1989]

They did that with tobacco products here, and guess what, hardly anyone smokes now.

Worked like a charm.

[exitseven]

I am not sure. I do know that charging people 12 bucks a pack for cigarettes did more to get people to stop smoking that any phony program.

[DrPepper12]

Now that's the facts Jack!!

[red-lipstick-girl]

No, what needs to be done is to make them healthier. The reason why there are so many obese people in America is the government.

[HighValue]

Giving people health insurance discounts based on video evidence of them doing a set amount of exercise would be beneficial. Same goes for letting people get exercise equipment as part of their health care benefits.

[NathanDavis]

it has NOT worked, in the places it's been done and tried, for years

[DryGermanGuy]

www.theguardian.com/.../uk-sugar-tax-explained-what-is-it-and-has-it-worked

[NathanDavis]

@DryGermanGuy https://jech.bmj.com/content/78/9/578

when you go to the actual research/study/publication, you can realize a few things

first of all... this data was taken from an already declining trend which had been happening previous to the tax... so of course, when they focused in one specific period of 11 months... (and the population being only 80 people at the time) the observed result was going to be a decline

the fuller publication also explains, while of course... people bought less sugary shit in the first months after they got more expensive, the overall consumption was still three times or four times higher than the recommended

the recommendation is for sugar to be less than 5% of total intake... and some places in the UK, still have it over 20%

so, relatively speaking, there's a decline because of price, yes... but realistically speaking, it will not work against obesity, no, and it hasn't

not even in the UK, in which... if you find studies and research that are coming from the last four years, you still see that the UK ranks high in sugar consumption

and one final thing... about manufactures reformulating their products... the only thing they do is to change the name of "sugar" to another chemical, which is going to be as unhealthy and sometimes worst, because it is ultra-processed

so, in conclusion, it can work to reduce percentages, but it doesn't make substantial change and it has not help to reduce obesity, significantly

it is the equivalent of slapping Mike Tyson... yeah, you might slap Mike Tyson once in the face, but that's going to happen just once... lmao, he would still kick your ass

[DryGermanGuy]

I guess we'll have to wait what will happen mid-term/long-term. I assume there will be several steps of regulation (similar to tobacco products), each with their own impact.

[NathanDavis]

@DryGermanGuy that might work better, eventually... at a smaller countries, with more regulation and overall, better habits

but the USA and Mexico seem to be doomed...

[phraseology]

Did a tax stamp and a drug war stop people from smoking marijuana? If you harshly tax things like cookies, people would just bake them at home from ingredients and dodge the tax.

[phraseology]

When taxes go up, people still demand what they demand, they just go through an intermediary to get it. That might mean they make their own product or that they buy it on the black market to avoid the taxation. Visible legal sales can plummet for statistics, but consumers consume one way or another... They often pay more if a middle man is involved in black market sales, but if the penalty is steep enough, people color outside the lines.

[Sevenpointfive]

i saw this one post somewhere that said :

if there is one aisle in the grocery stores dedicated to health food, then what is everything else.

it made a lot of sense.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Yes, also EBT needs to stop covering them.

[Anonymous]

No, it'd just make people poorer. If you want to attack somebody, attack the source. Hold corporations that make junk food to a higher standard.

[Anonymous]

The only solution is to stop producing it and the only way that works is to permanently deal with overpopulation

[Anonymous]

Why can't we just let people live their lives again?

[DrPepper12]

Normally I'm extremely libertarian as far as the ability of an individual to harm themselves. I firmly support self-selected euthanasia but I think some carrots and sticks are always a good government policy towards a good end

[admles]

No.

Cigarettes are taxed to the max here in Australia, and it hasn't made a difference.

[FunkyMonkee]

You mean, they're NOT?

[missindiana93]

Probably not.

[jack1924]

Why?

[missindiana93]

Because people love junk food.

[DrPepper12]

Likely not.

[Dongie]

No..

[jahaims]

Nope