[url]http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6275T720100308[/url]
[quote](Reuters) - U.S. researchers estimate that an 18 percent tax on pizza and soda can push down U.S. adults' calorie intake enough to lower their average weight by 5 pounds (2 kg) per year.
The researchers, writing in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine on Monday, suggested taxing could be used as a weapon in the fight against obesity, which costs the United States an estimated $147 billion a year in health costs.
"While such policies will not solve the obesity epidemic in its entirety and may face considerable opposition from food manufacturers and sellers, they could prove an important strategy to address overconsumption, help reduce energy intake and potentially aid in weight loss and reduced rates of diabetes among U.S. adults," wrote the team led by Kiyah Duffey of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
With two-thirds of Americans either overweight or obese, policymakers are increasingly looking at taxing as a way to address obesity on a population level.
California and Philadelphia have introduced legislation to tax soft drinks to try to limit consumption.
CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden supports taxes on soft drinks, as does the American Heart Association.
There are early signs that such a policy works.
Duffey's team analyzed the diets and health of 5,115 young adults aged age 18 to 30 from 1985 to 2006.
They compared data on food prices during the same time. Over a 20-year period, a 10 percent increase in cost was linked with a 7 percent decrease in the amount of calories consumed from soda and a 12 percent decrease in calories consumed from pizza.
The team estimates that an 18 percent tax on these foods could cut daily intake by 56 calories per person, resulting in a weight loss of 5 pounds (2 kg) per person per year.
"Our findings suggest that national, state or local policies to alter the price of less healthful foods and beverages may be one possible mechanism for steering U.S. adults toward a more healthful diet," Duffey and colleagues wrote.
In a commentary, Drs. Mitchell Katz and Rajiv Bhatia of the San Francisco Department of Public Health said taxes are an appropriate way to correct a market that favors unhealthy food choices over healthier options.
They argued that the U.S. government should carefully consider food subsidies that contribute to the problem.
"Sadly, we are currently subsidizing the wrong things including the product of corn, which makes the corn syrup in sweetened beverages so inexpensive," they wrote.
Instead, they argued that agricultural subsidies should be used to make healthful foods such as locally grown vegetables, fruits and whole grains less expensive.[/quote]
Oh god, politicians...
Thanks to Sam Tilgan for giving me the heads up on this.
Do this, legalize pot to give everyone the munchies, economic troubles over
tax any signs of fun, even smiles giggles, or laughs
[QUOTE=Gunguy;20687299]tax any signs of fun, even smiles giggles, or laughs[/QUOTE]
Laughter is the best medicine, but the US doesn't have universal healthcare so you have to pay for it.
I think there should be a prostitute tax to lower the spread of STDs.
Sounds good to me. It's scary to see how many fat little kids there are at my sisters school.
Why not tax the retarded parents that allow their children to eat and drink all of this shit therefore leading to their obesity leading to a million soccer moms crying out against the food industry for making little Timmy a little fatass?
[QUOTE=Zeke129;20687295]Do this, legalize pot to give everyone the munchies, economic troubles over[/QUOTE]
Drugs are bad.
[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;20687286](Reuters) - U.S. researchers estimate that an 18 percent tax on pizza[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;20687286](Reuters) - U.S. researchers estimate that[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;20687286](Reuters)-[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;20687286]([b]Uterus[/b])[/QUOTE]
haw haw
That's not a bad idea at all. Maybe the soccer moms learn that having pizza everyday is bad when it costs a fortune.
Lessen the veggie/fruit tax, I say!
Fuck that all I drink is pepsi and I'm normal size.
Yeah, a better solution to improve people's health would be to bring the price of healthy food down instead of jacking the price of unhealthy food up.
Maybe they should dramatically lower the usage of high-fructose corn syrup and switch to real sugar.
I don't know much on the subject, but it is my understanding that high-fructose corn syrup is bad.
[QUOTE=TheOnlyHunter;20687554]haw haw[/QUOTE]
I can't believe you just went through all the work to get Uterus...
[img]http://www.stuffwelike.com/stuffwelike/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/gabe1.jpg[/img]
No fuck you.
If they just tax the regular soda instead of diet, maybe people will switch to diet soda = less fatties.
In the end, I can't say I care too much. I personally disagree with it because people should be able to buy what the fuck they want, what if they're thin? They get taxed out too, real fair.
Health food costs alot of money, I could spend $10 and get my family a dinner at Mcdonolds or I could spend $40+ on some organic food.
Eating healthy and staying fit is good, but it costs alot and in this shit economy you need to save as much as you can. Fast food is cheap cause it has impurities and replaced ingredients for cost and speed. Organic/health foods can't do that.
Or, instead of dicking with our so called "free market" they could add a mandatory 1 hour of PE in schools each day. Healthy food doesn't matter if you don't burn calories. I don't want to pay more for my coke n' cookies because 1/3 of the nation doesn't move regularly.
While I don't like the idea of the government trying to control the people's diets, people consume [i]waaaaaay[/i] to much pop. I can't tell you how often I see morbidly obese people buying a dozen twelve liters at the grocery story.
Why not just pull an Australia and ban them?
[QUOTE=evilking1;20688181]If they just tax the regular soda instead of diet, maybe people will switch to diet soda = less fatties.[/QUOTE]
Diet is just as bad, if not worse.
Really, I doubt this will do anything, no matter how high the tax, for the rate of consumption of unhealthy food. It will, however, bring in a monstrous amount of money in taxes.
[editline]05:03PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;20688088]Maybe they should dramatically lower the usage of high-fructose corn syrup and switch to real sugar.
I don't know much on the subject, but it is my understanding that high-fructose corn syrup is bad.[/QUOTE]
It's worse because it is much more complex, making it take much longer to break down in the body. By that time it is nothing but fat.
How do they not get that the fatties are just going to make up the calories with some other unhealthy-as-fuck food anyway?
I bet many fat fetishists are having a massive uproar now.
[QUOTE=dogmachines;20688282]Or, instead of dicking with our so called "free market" they could add a mandatory 1 hour of PE in schools each day. Healthy food doesn't matter if you don't burn calories. I don't want to pay more for my coke n' cookies because 1/3 of the nation doesn't move regularly.[/QUOTE]
I remember having PE every day from grade 1 to grade 9. After that it became elective.
[editline]04:43PM[/editline]
Protip: it doesn't do anything to help people lose weight. Our gym teacher was like 280 pounds for god's sake
[QUOTE=Pepsi-cola;20687631]Fuck that all I drink is pepsi and I'm normal size.[/QUOTE]
you dont know what youre talking about
an 18% tax rate on soda is a brilliant fucking idea, the deficit would go down immensely
So they think I must be punished with higher prices because other people are fat???
I fucking love Pizza goddammit :argh:
It really shouldn't be the government's place to do this. People are fat because they made themselves that way, it's not anyone else's problem.
Not only that, but this hurts those who keep their weight in check. Who the fuck wants to pay extra for calories that they're going to burn off later?
Sure that's fine with me, as long as they subsidize the purchase of fruits and vegetables, which are all insanely more expensive than soda and pizza.
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