What´s the Main Cause of the Skyrocketing Rates of Obesity?

Sugar addiction is a problem that has been in our society for many years. In today's world this type of addiction is being composed into drinks. Sugary drinks are found everywhere from local stores, to in home refrigerators. Sodas, juices, and energy drinks, all fall under unhealthy remedies to thirst. Sugar addiction can only restrain us from accomplishing healthy goals in life. Sugary drinks can lead to harming one's body. Over the past few years, many cities and states have considered taxing sodas and other sugary beverages. Sugary drinks must be tax due to its unhealthy components and addiction.

Obesity and diet related disease like diabetes are one of the biggest challenges today in America. The situation continues to worsen every day; obesity becomes a serious health crisis. Cities like Philadelphia and Berkeley, California, are sounding the bell of danger by imposing a tax on the consumption of soda and sugary beverages to cutback sugar consumption; which is a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. Some people say that tax on soda and sugary drinks aren’t beneficial to society and don’t generate any positive effect on public health. Others say that it is a powerful weapon against the obesity epidemic invading the American population. I agree with the later. Taxes on sugary

Congress hereby finds and declares that the United States of America has experienced a dramatic increase in the number of obese people and the number of deaths caused by the symptoms of obesity. Obesity is the leading cause of preventable deaths and accounts for 18% of all deaths in America (Fox 2013); thus, a one-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages will decrease consumer rates and lower the obesity level. The rise in sweetened beverage consumption is parallel to the increase in obesity rates. Soda and other sugary substances are the largest contributors to sugar and calorie intake; soft drinks, energy drinks, sweet teas, and sports drinks are considered the top most consumed beverages in America (Kickthecan 2014). The annual medical costs due to obesity and overweight Americans is also staggering. The proposed solution will not hinder the necessary diet and nutritional value of one 's meal, but rather improve it by reducing the amount of sugar American 's consume, especially since sugary beverages are a large factor of obesity that can be costly and life threatening.

One of the biggest health concerns facing children in the United States to is childhood obesity. Childhood obesity has grown to become a major epidemic all across the nation effecting millions of children both physically and emotionally. One of the biggest contributors to this public health issue is sugar sweetened beverages. Sugar-sweetened beverages are an unregulated and out control beverages that is being consumed by millions of children each and every day. Progress is being made on the local level to treat and control this concern, but in order to truly make a difference a federal policy needs to be implemented. This federal policy needs to tax sugar-sweetened beverages to encourage consumer to make healthier and cheaper choices. A federal

Wetter and Hodge, Jr. argue how childhood obesity is a vital issue that needs to be addressed as it puts children at risk for long-term health problems. The authors’ solution to lowering the rate of obesity is by taxing sugar-sweetened beverages. They relay information from the World Health Organization and make comparisons between other products that are heavily taxed in order to help support their argument. Wetter and Hodge, Jr. state that the World Health Organization declared that raising taxes on tobacco products was very effective in reducing the demand for tobacco use. They also discuss the legal components regarding sugar-sweetened beverages taxes. One of their ideas includes the sweeter the sugar-sweetened beverage is, the higher it

Sugary drinks are blamed for increasing the rates of chronic disease and obesity in America. Yet efforts to reduce their consumption through taxes or other measures have gone nowhere. The beverage industry has spent millions defeating them. - Robert Reich. This quote shows that while a sugary drink tax would be beneficial the beverage industry will do anything to stop it. This writer is in favor of a sugary drink tax even though it might be a tough tax to implement. The tax could be used to expand on healthy eating resources and education. The government could also use the added revenue to subsidize farmers who grow healthier options. Lower sugar consumption rates would make way for healthier lifestyles. Healthier lifestyles would lower obesity rates and in turn help lower insurance costs.

The council member, Jeff Ritterman, had special insight into how sugar was ruining his neighbors’ health. Before becoming a politician, he’d spent nearly thirty years as the chief of cardiology at Kaiser Permanente’s campus in Richmond, a bleak industrial town north of Berkeley, where the biggest employer is a Chevron refinery and many residents are poor. As in other communities with similar demographics, half of Richmond’s children were overweight or obese. It was clear to Ritterman that this had a lot to do with their sugar consumption. Taxing soda, one of the biggest sources of sugar in children’s diets, seemed like a sensible response.

A spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down, but what happens when it is thirty-three grams of high fructose corn syrup. What started out as pharmacists selling flavored mineral water has turned into a multi billion-dollar industry that fuels the United States’ obesity epidemic. Legislators have tried to manage this growing issue with promises of public health initiatives with little funding and insubstantial outcomes. The average American drinks a gallon of soda a week and the US Government continues to pay for it (Time 2010). Extensive research suggests that soft drinks are a significant contribution to obesity and increasing the price of soft drinks could curtail this effect. The US Federal Government should implement a modest excise tax on soda to increase the average retail price of soda and discourage consumption.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2 in 3 adults are considered to be overweight and 1 in 3 are considered to be obese. That’s approximately 36% of the American population being obese and 74% being overweight. There are many causes to why this can be the case and some medical causes, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. However, the prevalence and widespread acceptance of junk food has made the problem of obesity worse. The government should start regulating junk food as it does with products such as alcohol and cigarettes, which in turn may prevent some people from abusing it or at the very least slow down consumption. Although a tax on junk food realistically won’t cause intake to stop entirely, the revenue gained by the government from this tax could help with health care costs related to the problem, such as treatments for diabetes and obesity, as well as help offer healthy snack alternatives at cheaper prices and make them more readily available.

This is a transcript that addresses the problem with Mexican government trying to impose tax on sugary drinks. According to the article, one of the major argument against taxing sugary drinks is that tax will have hardly any effect on slowing weight gain. The purpose of the Mexican tax was to bring down sales and reverse the obesity rate but evidence have shown that it did not have any effect on health. This article states how the Mexican taxing bring more revenue leaving the poor with a regressive tax

Furthermore, taxing on sugary drink have another advantage. By increasing the price of sugary drinks, wide variaties of food are available. Most of the problem for today is that the price of healthy food is too expensive compared to junk food and sugary drinks. Price of one small bottle of fresh juice can be as expensive as the price of one large bottle of sodas so people would prefer to buy sodas rather than healthy and fresh juice. By increasing the price of sodas, people could think twice wether they want to buy sodas which is unhealthy or juice which is good for health. They can decide by their own choice. My mom, a pediatric endocrinologist who has seen childhood obesity soar in his clinic over the past thirty years, has long referred to sugary drinks as “empty calories.” She’s right. Soda and other sweetened beverages are luxury items that offer no nutritional benefit to the

Taxing sugary drinks should increase because it could save lives. For about a decade, policy makers and the soda industry have been fighting about the idea of a big soda tax. But taxing sugary drinks should be proceeded in order to help improve health problems. The tax is meant to protect people and to offset costs produced by products that can cause harm. Losing weight is not easy and the easiest way would start with a soft drink tax. The Department of Taxation and Finance needs to recognize that saving lives can be made through a tax on sugary drinks

Over the years society has inherited bad habits, among these have been unhealthy eating and drinking choices. These unhealthy decisions have led to a large percentage of our society to become obese. People have their own opinions and ideas on how this problem should be handled, the people brought forward these ideas with the insight of creating the most healthy life for all. In hopes of helping the large percentage of obesity decrease there has been a variety of ideas which have presented themselves as solutions. Banning super-sized menu items and tax on non healthy options exist as potential options for solving the obesity crisis. People of today’s society debate whether or not such banning and taxing will solve the obesity epidemic

Even though these people only occasionally consume these foods, they will be unduly punished for the habits and decisions of others to whom they have no relation whatsoever. The consequence of a sugar tax is that it will penalize both those who enjoy an occasional treat as part of a balanced diet, as well as over-consumers. Tax on food and drink puts unnecessary pressure on responsible consumers. It will place the greatest encumbrance on the financially unstable, who spend a larger quantity of their income on their nutritional needs. Most consumers make responsible decisions, but a tax will punish them for the choices of those who do

The debate about whether or not to impose a tax on sugary drinks raises some interesting questions. Some individuals argue that government should tax sugary drinks because the health risks associated with them. Others argue that consumers should have the right to drink whatever they want. By introducing a tax on sugary drinks, proponents hope to decrease consumption and promote healthier lifestyle. Opponents maintain that their lifestyle is their business and their business along. taxing sugary drinks have advantages; however, it also has disadvantages.