Is a "Fat Tax" coming?

tidmutt

I think some of you should take a step back for a moment and think about what you are saying. I don't think the government should tax "unhealthy food" it's none of their business what I eat. As many have said, determining what is unhealthy is actually quite difficult. I do think they should adjust the subsidies so that fast food doesn't end up being substantially cheaper than whole foods bought in a supermarket but then the flip side of that is what about those families struggling on the poverty line who manage to keep their kids alive by buying 10 cheeseburgers for 20 cents each. Sure, it's not healthy but it's a lot healthier than being dead.

Also, many of you talk about penalizing those overweight people who can't be bothered to lose weight and be healthy, well sure, there are plenty of those but there are also many people who struggle their whole life and fail to lose significant amounts of weight. Although the responsibility rests with them as always you can also point the finger at our society who often see it as just someone who is weak and probably stupid who should just stop eating twinkies rather than someone possibly with a deranged metabolism and probably some psychological issues. The usual response a fat person will get from their doctor is pathetic given the magnitude of the problem.

These are complex issues and can't just be addressed with some blanket gross generalizations.

As another poster mentioned, you have to start early and fix childhood obesity through education, perhaps better nutritional choices in schools and more emphasis on physical education. The reality is, short of a miraculous scientific breakthrough the current generation is likely to continue to be obese regardless of taxes, education programs or increased medical insurance rates.

honeysprinkles

I think some of you should take a step back for a moment and think about what you are saying. I don't think the government should tax "unhealthy food" it's none of their business what I eat. As many have said, determining what is unhealthy is actually quite difficult. I do think they should adjust the subsidies so that fast food doesn't end up being substantially cheaper than whole foods bought in a supermarket but then the flip side of that is what about those families struggling on the poverty line who manage to keep their kids alive by buying 10 cheeseburgers for 20 cents each. Sure, it's not healthy but it's a lot healthier than being dead.

Also, many of you talk about penalizing those overweight people who can't be bothered to lose weight and be healthy, well sure, there are plenty of those but there are also many people who struggle their whole life and fail to lose significant amounts of weight. Although the responsibility rests with them as always you can also point the finger at our society who often see it as just someone who is weak and probably stupid who should just stop eating twinkies rather than someone possibly with a deranged metabolism and probably some psychological issues. The usual response a fat person will get from their doctor is pathetic given the magnitude of the problem.

These are complex issues and can't just be addressed with some blanket gross generalizations.

As another poster mentioned, you have to start early and fix childhood obesity through education, perhaps better nutritional choices in schools and more emphasis on physical education. The reality is, short of a miraculous scientific breakthrough the current generation is likely to continue to be obese regardless of taxes, education programs or increased medical insurance rates.

I completely agree with pretty much everything you said. I am not so ready to put even more of my own personal life in the hands of the government. I am a person, not a commodity!

thankyou4thevenom

How about giving people tax breaks for say, approved diet plans, APPROVED trainers, dieticians, gym memberships, etc. Meaning being able to write off some or all of these costs. Promote healthy living and stop taxing people!!!

This i would imagine would lower overall health costs for the country as well.

Now that would be a better option.

gymshoe42

I too do not want more gov't interference in people's lives, but obesity doesn't just affect the individual only now. Like someone said, it's becoming a gov't issue. The argument is that lower income families can't afford the healthy stuff so they get the cheap stuff which is usually also the unhealthy stuff. These would be the same demographic that is on public health care and then whatever health problems they develop becomes the responsibility of the public to pay for. There's no plausible way the gov't can impose a tax based on someone's weight. I'm sure that violates some constitutional rights.

As honeysprinkle basically said, ..if a person wants to be fat, then they should be allowed to be fat. I conditionally agree. If it's not effecting anyone else, then sure... I don't care if they eat themselves to death. But others do get affected. I know people in job's that have a minor accident (like tripping over their own file cabinet) and most likely because of their morbidly obeseness, their small tumble results in severe injury and are out months. Sure a non-obese person can trip and fall as well, but I'm willing to bet the chances that the more fit person gets seriously hurt is far far lower. How about those times on an airplane where someone else's ...body .. is in your seat. That would be affecting other people...so it's not as clean cut as ... they should be able to be as fat as they want to be., cause... eventually, ... it's gonna affect someone else.

honeysprinkles

I too do not want more gov't interference in people's lives, but obesity doesn't just affect the individual only now. Like someone said, it's becoming a gov't issue. The argument is that lower income families can't afford the healthy stuff so they get the cheap stuff which is usually also the unhealthy stuff. These would be the same demographic that is on public health care and then whatever health problems they develop becomes the responsibility of the public to pay for. There's no plausible way the gov't can impose a tax based on someone's weight. I'm sure that violates some constitutional rights.

As honeysprinkle basically said, ..if a person wants to be fat, then they should be allowed to be fat. I conditionally agree. If it's not effecting anyone else, then sure... I don't care if they eat themselves to death. But others do get affected. I know people in job's that have a minor accident (like tripping over their own file cabinet) and most likely because of their morbidly obeseness, their small tumble results in severe injury and are out months. Sure a non-obese person can trip and fall as well, but I'm willing to bet the chances that the more fit person gets seriously hurt is far far lower. How about those times on an airplane where someone else's ...body .. is in your seat. That would be affecting other people...so it's not as clean cut as ... they should be able to be as fat as they want to be., cause... eventually, ... it's gonna affect someone else.

I think you have some good points. Being obese doesn't only affect yourself, often times it affects your family members and it can affect your performance in a lot of other areas of your life as well. I just don't think it needs to be a govt. issue, unless we have a national healthcare plan in the US like they do in other countries, in which case I might consider supporting a govt. tax for any activities that a person choses to do that negatively affects their health. That's not to control them or to change their habits, but just to balance out the potential extra costs. But since that is not the case for us right now, I don't see a need for it.
In other private organizations, such as your job or airlines or private health care, it should be their decision on how to deal with these issues.

tidmutt

I too do not want more gov't interference in people's lives, but obesity doesn't just affect the individual only now. Like someone said, it's becoming a gov't issue. The argument is that lower income families can't afford the healthy stuff so they get the cheap stuff which is usually also the unhealthy stuff. These would be the same demographic that is on public health care and then whatever health problems they develop becomes the responsibility of the public to pay for. There's no plausible way the gov't can impose a tax based on someone's weight. I'm sure that violates some constitutional rights.

As honeysprinkle basically said, ..if a person wants to be fat, then they should be allowed to be fat. I conditionally agree. If it's not effecting anyone else, then sure... I don't care if they eat themselves to death. But others do get affected. I know people in job's that have a minor accident (like tripping over their own file cabinet) and most likely because of their morbidly obeseness, their small tumble results in severe injury and are out months. Sure a non-obese person can trip and fall as well, but I'm willing to bet the chances that the more fit person gets seriously hurt is far far lower. How about those times on an airplane where someone else's ...body .. is in your seat. That would be affecting other people...so it's not as clean cut as ... they should be able to be as fat as they want to be., cause... eventually, ... it's gonna affect someone else.

I somewhat agree, my point is that it's a complex issue and a very difficult thing to regulate, I would hope we can find a better solution though. The government currently subsidies commodities that help to make fast food so cheap (we should also give fast food chains some credit in that they've been creative in driving down the cost/price - the free market at work) so perhaps we could strive to make healthier products cheaper without taxing the crap out of a burger.

No one wants to be fat, especially morbidly obese, unless you are insane. Many people who are in that situation often despair because despite trying many diets they continually fail. More help could be found for those people. As another poster said, why not allow the cost of a dietician or a certified trainer to be claimed via health insurance. Educate kids in healthy eating from a young age, teach kids how to cook healthy meals, who knows, some of it might rub off on their parents.

On the topic of charging obese people higher insurance rates, I think that's pretty much impossible. My BMI is higher than some of my skinny friends yet I am substantially fitter and probably healthier than them. It was highlighted to me recently when we visited a theme park and even the skinny dudes couldn't spent the whole day walking the park, they had to sit down constantly and take breaks, I kept going all day without an issue because I exercise regularly. So who should pay a higher premium?

MIMITIME

The government needs to create some jobs to help people get back on their feet. Once they get that done and get the economy out of the toilet, maybe, just maybe they can spend a little time making fat people feel worse about themselves than they already do.

tidmutt

The government needs to create some jobs to help people get back on their feet. Once they get that done and get the economy out of the toilet, maybe, just maybe they can spend a little time making fat people feel worse about themselves than they already do.

LOL, good point. hehehe

djdelano

The government needs to get WAY WAY WAY out of the way of the private sector on all counts.

Flat Tax, or consumption tax, either one of these would go a HUGE distance to solve numerous issues.

The government has no business telling you how to live your life on ANY front. We are a free society, it must stay this way or we will fail. People would take care of their own problems if the government would get out of the way.

Entitlements are one of the worst contributors to overweight people, guess where that's coming from.. The GOVERNMENT.

I love America, I am a patriot. But the administrations (all of them) as far back as after Reagan are simply out of control.

When you pay your taxes you contribute to calamity, sucks doesnt it?

-D

0PhAtDaDdY

The major problem with a "fat tax" besides being totally ridiculous, is how are they going to measure who's fat?
If it's BMI, get ready for a bunch of lawsuits. Every bodybuilder and athlete's like Adrian Peterson are obese according to BMI.

Instead of taxing us they should find a way to make healthy food cheaper and quit subsidizing the corn industry so companies quit using corn sugar (high fructose corn syrup) in everything because of how cheap it is.

Let's see I do taxes for a living, we just got in the new software for the upcoming tax season and we have to weight the client and input that data on the tax return and then it will calculate your credits or reduce them depending on your BMI.. The IRS has an approved scale we have to purchase, the client now stands on and the software inputs that number in the the tax software without telling us their exact weight. It's the craziest thing I have seen since been doing taxes.. OK I suppose I can say now "just kidding" but I do do do do taxes. hahaha...

djdelano

The government needs to create some jobs to help people get back on their feet. Once they get that done and get the economy out of the toilet, maybe, just maybe they can spend a little time making fat people feel worse about themselves than they already do.

Hi,

I'm in 50% agreement. The government does not create jobs, that is a well contrived myth. The private sector creates jobs. However you are absolutely right that it's the government's responsibility to let the economy fix itself, predominantly by empowering the private sector, dealing with generational bankruptcy and reducing it's foot print exponentially.

http://www.cenedella.com/job-search/the-government-does-not-create-jobs-humans-do/

-D

pattycakes726

The major problem with a "fat tax" besides being totally ridiculous, is how are they going to measure who's fat?
If it's BMI, get ready for a bunch of lawsuits. Every bodybuilder and athlete's like Adrian Peterson are obese according to BMI.

Instead of taxing us they should find a way to make healthy food cheaper and quit subsidizing the corn industry so companies quit using corn sugar (high fructose corn syrup) in everything because of how cheap it is.

Can you site the proposed law you're talking about? Without specifics we're all shadow boxing here.

calliope_music

How about giving people tax breaks for say, approved diet plans, APPROVED trainers, dieticians, gym memberships, etc. Meaning being able to write off some or all of these costs. Promote healthy living and stop taxing people!!!

This i would imagine would lower overall health costs for the country as well.

this would be awesome. the company i currently work for gives me a free gym membership to area gyms, pretty good health insurance coverage, and my health insurance premium does down the more often i participate in healthy lifestyle programs. i'm all for that. i'm saving something like $200 per month on health insurance because of this.

vinylscratch

I've noticed nobody has touched on poverty. Poverty is a huge contributor to obesity; pancakes, which are nothing but white flour and sugar, were a staple of the urban poor when I was growing up.

It's easy for someone who has never experienced food insecurity to just say "get whole-wheat pancake flour!" It's pricier, it's rarely found at discount food stores, and often can't be repurposed as easily.

Food insecurity means individuals in poverty will do anything to stretch their dollar and get SOMETHING in their bellies. When you are starving you don't care what that is. When people hate on "welfare cases" for being obese, they usually say "If they don't have any money, why are they so fat?" So ignorant.. they're fat because they don't have the means to make healthy choices. I'm not talking about the people on food assistance you see with huge carts at the beginning of the month -- although if you notice they will often stock up on ground beef, bulk cheese, and other fatty but substantial items that can be frozen and repurposed to stretch their dollar.

I'm talking about the people who have been pretty much forgotten. They're obese because of a number of factors: They're eating crap because they can only afford to feed themselves and their children on crap. They're out of work and consequently sedentary, whether through disability or the collapse of a business they worked in a specific field for 10-15 years and can't afford to go back to school to learn something new. They're depressed because they're stuck in the cycle of poverty. They often live in unsafe areas and don't have the means or will to exercise. These are the people who rely on Medicare and Medicaid and for good reason.

Think about how -lucky- we all are that we get to worry about a first-world problem like weight loss.

While there are people who deliberately choose bad options when they have an alternative, there's also a lost world of people who have fallen into the poverty vortex.

Instead of heavier taxes, let's subsidize farms that produce REAL food, like a previous poster said, and un-subsidize the corn industry. Real, fresh produce made affordable for everyone.

This country makes me cry.

MercenaryNoetic26

Yeah, good point!
Lets blame the FDA and the USDA for FAILING us as a nation. They sell out to the highest bidder and serve us *kitten* on a plate with their seal of approval.

castadiva

I think the fat tax is coming from an increased burden to society via the health problems associated to being overweight.

BMI is just some easy excuse to justify it. In reality, everyone would have to submit their blood/urine work for evaluation.

Oh-ho! And then watch the civil liberties/invasion of privacy/failure to protect confidential data come flooding in?!

kimberly0416

They should lower the price of healthy food, vegetables and fruits. Americans are fat because filler foods are cheap, potatoes and rice.

And it won’t stick anyways since the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 since obesity could be considered hereditary. Even though it deals mostly with EEO, it can be reasoned with this as well.

TundraTed

I think everyone should eat healthy. I do not think the government has the right to "punish" those who choose not to. It is a personal decision the government has no business being a part of.

catshark209

I'm lower income and live in a "bad" area and I have no problem eating healthy and having my son eat healthy. Poverty isn't an excuse. I also work out 6 days a week with my own bodyweight, a sandbag and a dip station (Bodyrock.tv is awesome). While I agree the bad foods are more accessible, there are ways those of us in the ghetto can eat healthy.

aWashCloth

Taxing is stupid..

Education is key.

If people don't want to be healthy,
let the problem heart attack itself.