obesity tax - wtf?

[merchimerch]

http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S724178.shtml?cat=300

This headline shocked me when I saw it. Thank heavens it's a misnomer. They aren't actually taxing people for having a certain percentage of fat on their bodies. In fact, I have no problem with taxing soda or any kind of junk food to try and encourage healthy eating and less sugar/fat/corn syrup/hydrogenated oil consumption.

However, calling such a proposal an "obesity tax" is just awful on so many levels. People are fat for SO many reasons, not just because they drink soda. Hell, I am technically "obese" by all the wonky BMI measurements, height weight charts, etc. and I cut soda out of my diet years ago. (Guess what, I'm much healthier for it, but still fat) Lets go over this again - health and fat levels may have some relation, but they are not isomorphic.

Further, taxing non-diet soda isn't an effective way to combat obeistiy or encourage better health, since studies have shown that diet soda drinkers often gain MORE weight than regular soda drinkers and that it can mess with the way that normal folks produce insulin because it fools them into thinking that they've consumed sugar when they haven't. Don't even get me started on the dubious chemical content.

Why aren't they just calling this a "soda tax" or a "junk food tax?" I'm really grumpy that they have to bring fat into this issue, though I'm sure that is to get support because people are so terrified of "TEH 3VIL FAT!!!!" that they will support anything from taxes to pyramid schemes to pills to starvation programs if it claims to eradicate it.

-sigh-

Happy New Year everyone, time for the weight loss industry to crank up into over drive.

Comments

[ame-chan.livejournal.com]

*sigh* Thank god for my DVR, fast forward key, and you know, my general ability to stick my fingers in my ears and sing "Lalalalalalalalala" over and over.

You know what's sad? I actually woke up this morning thinking, "It's a new year. I should lose weight."

AUGH. NO. NO. NO. *headslam*

[bay-bus-rider.livejournal.com]

Happy New Year everyone, time for the weight loss industry to crank up into over drive.

No kidding.

I hate that "anti-obesity" has become yet another easy political stance, one often taken on the most shallow level with a great deal of ignorance (like the diet soda thing).

But I don't agree with this kind of tax. While it will make soda more expensive, it won't make healthful alternatives cheaper. The poorest folks won't be able to afford either.

[merchimerch.livejournal.com]

I agree that it won't help staples become affordable, but in general I don't mind luxury taxes in times where the government needs money.

I have seen studies that cigarette taxes and other vice taxes do often impact the poor more acutely, both since a larger percentage of their income goes into consumables and because during hard times, people will save their last dime to get a drink, have a smoke, etc.

[fallen42.livejournal.com]

Seriously, junk food tax is a much better name for that.

BTW, I don't think isomorphic is the word that you want to use in this case. In the most general sense the word isomorphic means same structure. A more precise way to phrase what you are saying there would be: Overall health is correlated to fat levels, however, there are many other factors that affect health.

[merchimerch.livejournal.com]

thanks for the clarification :)

[aelfscine.livejournal.com]

I wonder what would happen if we did away with the custom of free refills. A 12 oz serving of pop isn't going to kill anybody, but a limitlessly refillable 12 oz serving can become a giant calorie bomb. Knowing that another glass would cost another $1.50 might be a helpful deterrent, without adding a tax to that initial first serving.

[merchimerch.livejournal.com]

I also wonder if such a tax was levied, if soda companies would just swallow the cost of the tax. Soda is notoriously cheap to make (thanks to subsidized corn among other things), and that's why it is often one of the things comped on a menu or given free refills. The most expensive thing about a can of coke is the can. Perhaps such a tax wouldn't act as a deterrent at all, since it's very feasible that the companies could eat the cost of the tax and still pull a tidy profit.