It's Time To Get Paid In Airports

As an American I love my fair share of greasy foods. Like most Americans I enjoy eating at food fattening restaurants like Chick fil- a, Sonic Drive-in, and not to forget Mc Donald’s. Almost every other week would be spent at Mc Donald’s where I would usually get the 10 piece chicken nuggets with medium fries, a sprite, and five different dipping sauces. Many people who follow the same routine do not suffer from high blood pressure or obesity, which brings me to the issue that taxing obese people for being overweight is an idea, but may need to be reevaluated as a solution. After looking into the article “The Fat Tax: A Modest Proposal” by Johnathan Rauch from The Atlantic he mentions the fact that many fast food companies are increasing the rates of being obese by instituting larger cups, food portions, and serving more buttered bread.

Many adults pay the price everyday for the obesity of others. Source B states “ Airlines are doing all sorts of stuff to lighten their planes to offset soaring fuel prices, like getting rid of bulky snacks and rows of seats. Maybe they should be spending money on diet classes.” Everyday people are affected by the rise of obese people. Because of the rise travelling has gotten more expensive everyday.

One of the main groups that would be negatively affected by a fat tax are the diabetics. Those who fight hypoglycemia occasionally need candy or soda to raise their blood sugar levels. Why should diabetics have to pay more for something that could potentially save their lives? They already have to pay extremely high costs for their insulin to keep their glucose levels from reaching too high. At Diabetic Care Services and Pharmacy, a box of five Humalog pen Kwikpens cost $339.29, which is extremely expensive, especially if the buyer does not have health insurance. The cost of living is very high for someone with diabetes and they might have very little money left out of each paycheck, after taxes and medical bills, for groceries. “Calorie for calorie, junk foods not only cost less than fruits and

The point is to hinder people from making poor food choices. To be healthier, would people agree to sign a fat tax bill? Seems unlikely, but for example, think about the reduction in smokers because of the limited public smoking areas, the Surgeon General’s warning on every pack of cigarettes and the sky rocketing prices. There are a lot less smokers now then before these changes. If the government can foster the same idea in food education, rather than just saying “eat healthy and exercise,” there may be positive results to the obesity epidemic. Now it is realized that something more drastic must be done.

“Kids bodies inner clocks make it hard for kids to go to bed before 10:30 or 11 p.m, but to get to school on time kids have to wake up as early as 4:30 in the morning”, says Ashley Yeager. Starting school this early is not in sync with kid’s bodies. Therefore, the school board should change the start times to middle and high schools because kids focus better and achieve more; it improves your health and increases scores on tests.

With obesity rates increasing at an exponential rate, a tax on fat foods and specifically high sugar beverages of 20% or about 1 cent per ounce could reduce obesity rates by 3.5%, bringing the rate down to 30% among adults (Kalaidis). While 3.5% may not sound like a lot, if you take an approximate U.S. population of 350 million people, suddenly that mere 3.5% turns into over 12 million Americans who would no longer be considered obese. Marion Nestle, a well-respected expert in food policy, recently conducted a study investigating the impact of a junk food tax through predictive modeling. Her study revealed that 2,600 deaths, 9,500 heart attacks, and 240,000 new cases of diabetes could be prevented with a simple 1 cent per ounce tax on sugary beverages (Satran). A junk food tax of this kind could greatly increase the health of the American public as a whole by reducing death rates and healthcare

A fat tax would plague producers and outlets. Such was the case with the world’s first fat tax introduced in Denmark. This tax on foods high in saturated fat was dismissed after less than a year and left many consequences in its wake. It has been guilty of “increasing prices for consumers, increasing companies' administrative costs and putting Danish jobs at risk," as stated by the Danish tax ministry. As a result, the planned sugar tax has also been abandoned. As well, the tax was a costly procedure and failed to change the eating habits of people in general. A fat tax on fast food would have the same limitations and ultimately lead to failure.

While nobody denies we have a problem with taxation in this country for food, beverages, and everything that we buy in general, I believe that we should have a fat tax to detour people from buying soda and other fattening foods. We should also ban sodas and other fattening foods from vending machines in schools, and replace them with more healthy selections.

* There is speculation over the government introducing a new ‘fat tax’ on fast food served over a counter. This will add on another 20% to the current price in taxes. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/may/16/fat-tax-unhealthy-food-effect

Recently, a new policy of Samoa Air, pay-by-your-weight, caused wide public concern. Some passengers are able to understand this rule, because Samoa has a small island-hopping airline and the obesity rates get close to the peak in this region. The others, however, can’t accept this inappropriate idea to discuss people’s weight. In my opinion, I agree with the latter, because weighing the pounds greatly destroys the honor system and the privacy.

With a growing epidemic of obesity in America, some states and lawmakers have resorted to taking unconventional measures in order to counter the growing issue. Many legislators are debating the effectiveness of a “fat tax” would be on limiting the consumption of soda, high fat foods, and high sugar foods, and ultimately reducing the rate of morbidity and mortality due to obesity. The idea is that long term consumption of high fat, high sugar foods and drinks lead to many health problems, so making them more expensive and less accessible should decrease the health issues related to their consumption.

“Yes, there is an obesity problem, but taxation is not the answer. People already do not want to fly because of security madness...do you really think this would help the airlines?” as one of my sources quotes. I personally do not think it would help the

Although, fat tax could have its cons it would really help the obesity rate in America. What is obesity? Obesity is illness when one suffers from having excess body fat from genetics or bad dieting. (Obesity action). Many health conditions play a huge factor in obesity such as, heart diseases, strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol. There is many things that causes one to be obese. Perhaps the environment one keeps themselves in! If they are used to a fast paced lifestyle, always on the go then they are prone to eat unhealthy because they won’t have time to cook. Let alone getting any exercise, because no one walks to places anymore we drive and that allows us easier access to fast food. Also if they live in a poor and depressive

Imagine you are traveling by air and have already paid for all your traveling expenses, when you get to the airport you have to pay more money for being larger. People that live an oversize life should not have to pay extra when people just underweight do not. Larger people should not have to use more of their hard earned money due to the fact that it is unconstitutional, can lead to “fat taxes” in other industries, and can increase “weight” before boarding a plane.

Paying taxes is something everyone does. We pay taxes on cars, property, and on our income. What about the junk food we consume? This has been debated for years that it will or will not work. How do we educate the public? Why should we do it? Where will the money be going? What groups will it serve? Prices are already high, so where is the money coming from? Everything that is done must be motivated because if not, it becomes a fad - here today and gone tomorrow. Only things that are done repetitively are made into habits. As a person, all things can be done if we have a desire and a need. Taxes on junk food and soda will not work unless everyone is educated on the utilization of revenues, health advantages, and motivated sufficiently to make a more healthy change.