Should sugar be controlled like tobacco and alcohol
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MORE GOVERNMENT!! WE NEED MORE GOVERNMENT!!
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Nah.
People have to learn to be better for themselves, not for government exercising more and more control over what we can and can't do. Although I do think sugar/salt/fat shouldn't be added to EVERYTHING. Hard to taste the flavor of real food when corporations mask it with additives and "natural" (read: artificial) flavoring.0 -
All joking aside, I think the first step is education. Sugar is in practically every processed food and most people, who do not read labels, do not know this. In addition to that, I firmly believe that sugary foods (i.e. candy, sodas etc) should not be sold in schools.0
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Tax It Tax It Tax It There are taxes on tobacco and alcohol.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/06/while-soda-tax-debate-continues-in-the-us-taxes-on-unhealthy-foods-gain-traction-in-europe.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/06/while-soda-tax-debate-continues-in-the-us-taxes-on-unhealthy-foods-gain-traction-in-europe.html
While the movement to tax soft drinks in the United States is still in the debate stage, things are moving faster in Europe, where countries are imposing taxes on soft drinks and other unhealthy foods.
Last year in Denmark, the cost of a container of butter went up about 30 percent because of a tax on saturated fats. Hungary and Finland introduced taxes on soft drinks and other high-fat and -sugar foods. And the French government approved a controversial tax on colas and other sweetened beverages.
About the tax in France, Laming said, "It's a revenue-raising measure; it falls on soft drinks that contain added sugar. But it also falls on calorie-free soft drinks with artificial sweeteners, so there's no pretense that this is an obesity-related tax. And while we understand that governments have got to raise revenue, they shouldn't single out individual products for doing so.http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/06/while-soda-tax-debate-continues-in-the-us-taxes-on-unhealthy-foods-gain-traction-in-europe.html
At about 9 cents a liter, the French levy is relatively small; it was passed as a part of that country's austerity program. But the amount was enough for Coca-Cola to threaten to pull some investment from the country.
Also last year, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would consider a "fat tax" on some foods, saying the American obesity rate "should be a wake-up call" for his country.
The British Medical Journal published an article last month suggesting at least a 20 percent tax -- not just on soft drinks but also on other unhealthy foods -- would be needed to curb soft drink consumption and reduce obesity.
And another report this year, by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, advocated for taxes on unhealthy foods, saying that at least one in two people in OECD member countries is overweight or obese. "Revenues from taxes on unhealthy foods can be substantial," the report said, and "this money could be used to provide subsidies for healthy foods and to pay for health-education campaigns."
"We're not saying, and I don't think anybody is saying, that these taxes are a panacea and will cure obesity," said Oliver Mytton, an Oxford researcher and lead author of the British Medical Journal article. "We're just saying they're an important measure that should be pursued along with other measures."
Mytton* cited a study estimating that a 20 percent tax on sugary beverages in the United States would reduce the obesity rate by 3.5 percent. The tax would have less of an effect on obesity in Britain, where soft drink consumption is lower in general, he said.0 -
According to Brindis, effective interventions can’t rely solely on individual change, but instead on environmental and community-wide solutions, similar to what has occurred with alcohol and tobacco, that increase the likelihood of success.
Basically, it isn't up to obese people to change themselves. It's up to society to change obese people.
Lol, what? :indifferent:0 -
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MORE GOVERNMENT!! WE NEED MORE GOVERNMENT!!
Somehow, this is Obama's fault.0 -
There should be a logic question that must be answered before every forum post.
no logic needed... a simple "what's 2 + 2 = ?" would suffice.0 -
The problem is over population, which is leading to an exponentially larger number of stupid people in the world who use zero common sense and don't take any accountability for what they do/consume. The obesity pandemic is just evolution at work. Somehow I managed to get un-obese with sugar being a readily available and uncontrolled substance.
I put down the 32 oz big gulps and started getting my nutrition and fitness on...it was pretty easy and mostly a lot of common sense changes that did it for me.
Survival of the fittest, the clean eaters will survive and the obese will fall away.0 -
JFC!0 -
The problem is over population, which is leading to an exponentially larger number of stupid people in the world who use zero common sense and don't take any accountability for what they do/consume. The obesity pandemic is just evolution at work. Somehow I managed to get un-obese with sugar being a readily available and uncontrolled substance.
I put down the 32 oz big gulps and started getting my nutrition and fitness on...it was pretty easy and mostly a lot of common sense changes that did it for me.
Survival of the fittest, the clean eaters will survive and the obese will fall away.
what a shock, you don't understand evolution either.
eta: "survival of the fittest" is something that is greatly misunderstood. It means that the fittest of en entire population, not just the ones at the peak. A better way to say it is "survival of the minimally fit". I mean, look around you. Clearly not only the strongest/smartest are surviving. You just have to be able to get by.0 -
The problem is over population, which is leading to an exponentially larger number of stupid people in the world who use zero common sense and don't take any accountability for what they do/consume. The obesity pandemic is just evolution at work. Somehow I managed to get un-obese with sugar being a readily available and uncontrolled substance.
I put down the 32 oz big gulps and started getting my nutrition and fitness on...it was pretty easy and mostly a lot of common sense changes that did it for me.
Survival of the fittest, the clean eaters will survive and the obese will fall away.
Right cause calories have nothing to do with it, just if your food is clean or not0 -
One of the most ridiculous things I've ever read on here. That's saying a lot.0
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The problem is over population, which is leading to an exponentially larger number of stupid people in the world who use zero common sense and don't take any accountability for what they do/consume. The obesity pandemic is just evolution at work. Somehow I managed to get un-obese with sugar being a readily available and uncontrolled substance.
I put down the 32 oz big gulps and started getting my nutrition and fitness on...it was pretty easy and mostly a lot of common sense changes that did it for me.
Survival of the fittest, the clean eaters will survive and the obese will fall away.
I eat between 100 - 200 g of sugar a day. Not obese.0 -
I'm rarely for more government intervention in people's lives, but I would say that controlling the number of calories a person is allowed to consume a day will be far more effective.
ooo..I know...we can put a chip in everyone's head and if you eat more than your alloted calories, it blows up. Anything short of that is meaningless.0 -
The problem is over population, which is leading to an exponentially larger number of stupid people in the world who use zero common sense and don't take any accountability for what they do/consume. The obesity pandemic is just evolution at work. Somehow I managed to get un-obese with sugar being a readily available and uncontrolled substance.
I put down the 32 oz big gulps and started getting my nutrition and fitness on...it was pretty easy and mostly a lot of common sense changes that did it for me.
Survival of the fittest, the clean eaters will survive and the obese will fall away.
so let me see... either you eat "clean" or you are obese. there is no middle ground?0 -
now that is FRICKIN HILARIOUS!
We should control what people should be parents too
CAUSE MOST SUCK!0 -
I'm rarely for more government intervention in people's lives, but I would say that controlling the number of calories a person is allowed to consume a day will be far more effective.
ooo..I know...we can put a chip in everyone's head and if you eat more than your alloted calories, it blows up. Anything short of that is meaningless.
:laugh:0 -
MORE GOVERNMENT!! WE NEED MORE GOVERNMENT!!
Somehow, this is Obama's fault.
Well, yeah. It was in a chain email I got yesterday, so it must me.0 -
I'm rarely for more government intervention in people's lives, but I would say that controlling the number of calories a person is allowed to consume a day will be far more effective.
ooo..I know...we can put a chip in everyone's head and if you eat more than your alloted calories, it blows up. Anything short of that is meaningless.
how about the government just rations food. let's let some nameless, faceless bureaucrat decide how many calories each specific family is allowed. hopefully, if you don't piss anyone off and aren't labeled an enemy of the state, they'll give you just enough to survive. and those hours spent waiting in lines for the food will help you conserve your energy. i mean, this worked so well in the USSR, i'm sure it could work here...0 -
The problem is over population, which is leading to an exponentially larger number of stupid people in the world who use zero common sense and don't take any accountability for what they do/consume. The obesity pandemic is just evolution at work. Somehow I managed to get un-obese with sugar being a readily available and uncontrolled substance.
I put down the 32 oz big gulps and started getting my nutrition and fitness on...it was pretty easy and mostly a lot of common sense changes that did it for me.
Survival of the fittest, the clean eaters will survive and the obese will fall away.
no, because if there was a zombie apocalypse or anything else that causes civilisation to collapse, the obese would be the most likely to survive, as they'd have more fat reserves to keep them alive while they learn how to hunt and gather food. People with 6 pack abs will die first, unless they're already accomplished at hunting (preferably using stone age technologies, as when the bullets run out you'll be screwed as there's nowhere to buy new bullets if civilisation has collapsed)
Actually, that's why human beings are so prone to obesity.... because it's what enables humans to survive food shortages. Natural selection hasn't resulted in there being any upper limit to how much fat humans can gain, because we've never before had enough to eat to enable people to get fat enough to endanger their health enough to offset the survival benefits of storing body fat. And at the present time, obesity isn't killing enough people soon enough to stop them breeding, so there's very little selection pressure against being obese. It's only the "get carried out of your house by a crane" levels of obesity that's going to eliminate people from the gene pool, and those people probably have a medical abnormality that stops them from feeling full... whatever gene codes for that might get eliminated from the gene pool, but the tendency to sit around on your backside all day eating pizza and getting moderately obese isn't going to be eliminated from the gene pool anytime soon...0 -
If you take away my chocolate... there will be hell to pay!! :mad:0
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:laugh:0 -
So you're either a clean eater or you're obese? Those are the only choices?The problem is over population, which is leading to an exponentially larger number of stupid people in the world who use zero common sense and don't take any accountability for what they do/consume. The obesity pandemic is just evolution at work. Somehow I managed to get un-obese with sugar being a readily available and uncontrolled substance.
I put down the 32 oz big gulps and started getting my nutrition and fitness on...it was pretty easy and mostly a lot of common sense changes that did it for me.
Survival of the fittest, the clean eaters will survive and the obese will fall away.0 -
and guns and bullets and seatbelts and helmets and lightbulbs and real estate setbacks and speed limits and no parking and noise ordinances and no pets and no smoking and one quart ziplock bags with no more than three point five fluid ounce containers and . . .
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No, just no, and while we're at it, the government shouldn't be in the business of controlling peoples choices. So long as your choices don't adversely, and directly affect another individual, the government should have NO say in what you do. If you want to freebase opium, I say go nuts.
Rigger
The thing is, you don't live on some tiny little island by yourself. If you eat too much sugar, and end up immobile, odds are you;'re gonna go on medicare or Medicaid. The rest of us pay for that. If you smoke opium, fall asleep driving, and crash into a schoolbus, the rest of us could lose our kids.
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I agree the original article is absurd, and regulating sugar isn't the answer. But I think the libertarian "my body my business" argument needs to acknowledge that there is a point where your choices affect the rest of us.0 -
Survival of the fittest, the clean eaters will survive and the obese will fall away.
Do you work Kool-Aid into your clean eating regimen?
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The people who are eating so much they're immobile have serious problems with food in general. I bet some of them get that way who don't like sweet things at all.No, just no, and while we're at it, the government shouldn't be in the business of controlling peoples choices. So long as your choices don't adversely, and directly affect another individual, the government should have NO say in what you do. If you want to freebase opium, I say go nuts.
Rigger
The thing is, you don't live on some tiny little island by yourself. If you eat too much sugar, and end up immobile, odds are you;'re gonna go on medicare or Medicaid. The rest of us pay for that. If you smoke opium, fall asleep driving, and crash into a schoolbus, the rest of us could lose our kids.
'
I agree the original article is absurd, and regulating sugar isn't the answer. But I think the libertarian "my body my business" argument needs to acknowledge that there is a point where your choices affect the rest of us.0
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