There's no disputing the fact obesity is a problem for Canadians and for the North American population as a whole, but is a "junk-food tax" and a food ingredient ban really the best way to go about combating the problem?
A new editorial penned for the Canadian Medical Association Journal earlier this week suggests if "sin taxes" work for cigarettes and alcohol, they will also deter Canadians from reaching for that bag of chips or candy bar. But I have to wonder...
A trip to the liquor store or local bar can be pricey, but it doesn't seem to stop people from partaking. Cigarettes have gone up to nearly $12 a pack from what I've been told, but that hasn't prevented all the smokers I've seen huddled up outside this past winter from lighting up.
What it all really comes down to is choices and will power.
The 2007-09 Canadian Health Measures Survey says that more than 60 per cent of adults were overweight or obese, with 24 per cent overweight and 37 per cent obese. A junk-food tax, or "sin" tax, could help reduce the consumption of high-fat foods and drinks, maintains Sonia Grandi, co-author of the editorial. "Anything that contains a certain percentage over the recommended level with regards to fat or sugar, then they would be taxed a certain percentage," Grandi says. "Certain countries have actually implemented taxes up to 25 per cent on sodas, chips, anything that has a content that would be anywhere from 10 to 25 per cent above the daily required limit." The editorial also suggests an outright ban on tran fats and that revenue generated from the junk-food tax could be used to subsidize healthy food prices or to fund prevention programs aimed at decreasing obesity rates.
It all sounds good on paper but in the end we have to ask ourselves if this is the answer to all that ails us. Taxes and bans aside - which I'm sure most of us aren't fond of - the fact is, not all obesity is as a result of overindulging and in the end, wouldn't we really just be deterring those who couldn't afford the added expense?
When all is said and done, most people know what's good and bad for their bodies and I'd say it's up to them what they choose to put into them. We can tax and ban all we like, but if a person wants something badly enough, they'll find a way to access it, the other question is, what will they sacrifice to get it?
