4. Fat tax will help us all!

Often or not, healthy meals are more expensive than ready-made meals. Some may say, not everyone can afford to eat healthily and that taxing on junk food would bring the cost of living higher for those in the low income class. Brownell and Frieden in their journal stated that to make this less burdensome, the revenue from the tax can be used to subsidise the price of healthy foods such as vegetables and fruits.

How else can the tax help us? The report from Fight the Obesity Epidemic(FOE) outlines that the revenue from the tax would provide funds for the following;

1. Medical obesity prevention

2. Medical treatment for obesity and obesity related illness such as diabetes

3. Major public awareness campaigns and education to encourage consumers to have balanced diet

As I wrote in my last post "How fat are we?", obesity costs New Zealand between NZ$722 million and NZ$849million a year in healthcare and loss of productivity. With the introduction of junk food tax, not only it may discourage us to eat unhealthy food but to help us understand what we should eat to avoid ending up under the medical care. 

 

References:

Brownel, K. D., & Frieden, T. R. (2009, April 30). Ounces of Prevention — The Public Policy Case for Taxes on Sugared Beverages. Retrieved May 06, 2013, from Yale Rudd Center: http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/resources/upload/docs/what/industry/SodaTaxNEJMApr09.pdf

Obesity: the facts. (2004). Retrieved May 11, 2013, from Fight the Obesity Epidemic: http://foe.org.nz/obesity-the-facts/

 

3.How fat are we?

While it's easy for me or anyone to say

"Tax on ALL Junk food!" (as much as I would love to)

It wouldn't be a good argument without backing up my healthy opinion.

How fat are we as a nation.

According to this very interesting article by Tony Falkenstein on NZ Herald, we are the third fattest country in the world.



The article discussed about the current problem of obesity in New Zealand and referred to OECD stats on obesity.

According to OECD, 27.8% of Kiwis in 2009 are obese and although the rate is lower than that of United States (whopping 35.9%!!!!!), it's higher than the most countries.

Heart Foundation New Zealand explains that if your body mass index(BMI) is greater than 30, you are obese. BMI is calculated by dividing your weight(kg) by your height in metres. 


Obesity can lead to numerous health risks (such as diabetes and cardiovascular) but also can cause psychological problems such as low self esteem, depression and other mental health problems.  Other health issues that obesity can cause are stroke, several common cancers, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and reproductive abnormalities.

Ministry of Health New Zealand on their website explains that the main cause of obesity is excess intake of energy i.e. food and beverage consumption over expenditure of energy by physical action.

Are you still saying "Nah, I will be fine. That's not my problem?"

Researchers at Auckland University announced that obesity costs the country between NZ$722 million and NZ$849million a year in healthcare and loss of productivity.

This might not affect you directly. But this can result in higher healthcare costs in the future, which in return will affect you and me. AND this is why I strongly believe that we need to take an action by taxing on junk food.


References:

BMI Calculator. (2013). Retrieved May 10, 2013, from Heart Foundation New Zealand: http://www.heartfoundation.org.nz/healthy-living/losing-weight/bmi-calculator

 

Cost of Obesity. (2012, December 11). Retrieved May 5, 2013, from The University of Auckland: http://www.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/news/template/news_item.jsp?cid=535144

Eriksen, A. (2009, July 14). Kiwis third fattest in new obesity report. Retrieved April 27, 2013, from New Zealand Herald: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10584289

Obesity Questions and Answers. (2011, December 06). Retrieved May 05, 2013, from Ministry of Health: http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/obesity/obesity-questions-and-answers

OECD Health Data 2012- How Does New Zealand Compare. (2013, January 16). Retrieved May 05, 2013, from OECD: http://www.oecd.org/newzealand/BriefingNoteNEWZEALAND2012.pdf

2. So what is junk food anyways?

 

Before discussing why we need to implement Fat Tax and what it can do,  I would like to explain what "JUNK FOOD" is using examples from other countries. 

Some might say "Hamburgers are junk food", but what if we made the hamburger healthy with tofu patties and less fat? 

Denmark is one of first countries to implement this tax. Although this tax did not last in the country, we can definitely look at what they tried to do in this article on BBC News. 

Their tax covered, butter, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, oil and processed food that contain more than 2.3% saturated fat.  The tax surcharged 16 kroner($3.80) per kg of saturated fats in food.

How about other food?

According to the journal by Brownell and Frieden in 2009, New York, as well as other states of United States are proposing to tax on soft drinks. So called soft drinks in this case include, sugar-sweetened beverages such as sweetened soda with sugar, corn syrup, or other caloric sweeteners as well as carbonated and uncarbonated beverages which include sports and energy drinks.

Studies have shown that every 10% increase in the price of soft drinks, the consumption rate of the beverages reduces by 7.8%. When Coca-cola has increase the price by 12%, the sales reduced by 14.6%. The results of the reduction in soft drink sales by the increase of the price are evident in other studies shown in the same journal.

In UK, in order to define JUNK FOOD , they use SSCg3d scores. On National Center for  Biotechnology information, it explains in one of their articles that the scores estimate how unhealthy a food is by using eight nutritional parameters that score density of food energy, saturated fat, sodium and non-milk extrinsic sugar and subtracted for fruit and vegetable content, iron, calcium and fat that is n-3 polyunsaturated. The scores start with -12 for spinach to +29 for chocolate biscuits.

Now that we know what JUNK FOOD is, don't you think it's time for New Zealand to start taking actions? 

Reference:

Denmark introduces world's first food fat tax. (2011, October 1). Retrieved May 5, 2013, from BBC News Europe: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15137948

Brownel, K. D., & Frieden, T. R. (2009, April 30). Ounces of Prevention — The Public Policy Case for Taxes on Sugared Beverages. Retrieved May 06, 2013, from Yale Rudd Center: http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/resources/upload/docs/what/industry/SodaTaxNEJMApr09.pdf

Mytton, O., Gray, A., Rayner, M., & Rutter , H. (2007, August). Could targeted food taxes improve health? Retrieved May 10, 2013, from National Center for Biotechnology Information: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2652984/