i disagree.

a lot of healthy people eat the occasional 'unhealthy' food. or have a treat once a week.

a lot of obese people are obese simply because they eat too much and don't exercise enough, not because they're eating unhealthy foods.

So if they have the occasional "unhealthy" food, it means they will be less likely to get it, so they stay healthy.

Many obese people are obese because of genes; low metabolic rate, susceptibility to gaining weight, and so on.
The other obese people may be losing weight, yet they'd still need to pay the extra tax?

Reply 107

Apagg

Bagration

Apagg: Then I should be able to opt out of the Government's insurance plan that it is forcing on me and be responsible for myself.

Hmm, that'd require partitioning of tax funds for one, and you'd still have to pay tax for law & order, and defence, due to their public good nature. (The herd immunity aspect of vaccinations provided by the NHS might suggest you should also pay for the benefit you receive there, too, etc etc)

Reply 108

username219828

My personal opinion on this is mixed, if there was extra tax it would be good motivation for people to become healthy. If I were obese I'd get healthy if it stop'd me loosing money. On the other hand it could cause discrimination and poverty causen the obese people to buy more cheap fastfood.

Reply 109

tis_me_lord

_Mazza_

The thing is this brings other problems, for example should someone who has a family history of cervical cancer for example or someone who is born with an illness be charged more for their health insurance? They can't control this but the insurance company would be reluctant to cover them for the same premium as a healthy individual with no family history of illness.

Missed this, was busy quoting the post below!

I don't see why this scenario is WORSE than taxing people for smoking, eating certain foods, etc etc

I did not choose to be born male; yet I pay more driving insurance because of it. Do you think that's especially unfair?

Reply 110

Vesta

_Mazza_

I didn't say everyone who eats unhealthy food are fat, that's why I said increase taxes on the food not the people. You're even referring to the food as unhealthy food, implying it's detrimental to health. Yes thin people, fat people and in between people would have to pay the increased tax on unhealthy food, in the same way everyone pays VAT on clothes.

Yes, the food is unhealthy. But that does not mean the Government should impose taxes on it. What, do they want to tax everything that's "bad" for us? They've already got cigarettes, alcohol - how far should they go? Should people who drive be taxed more (more than the current rate, I suppose), as driving accidents are often quite regular? Should you be taxed on visiting a theme park, in case a rollercoaster might be deemed too dangerous? Where is the line drawn?

Taxing unhealthy food with the idea of preventing people from eating it is ridicolous, in my opinion.

Reply 111

AmberH

Yazr

Size 16 is no exactly fat is it? My sister is a size 16 and i'd not clas her as obese or anything.

No, I wouldn't class it as obese either- in most cases anyway- but it depends if the girl has big hips and is small on top or is just big all over. I've seen girls who are a size 16 on bottom yet a 20 on top who are most definitely obese. I suppose that the UK average all depends on the body shape and where they carry their fat. I mentioned the size 16 thing as it obviously isn't skinny and how fat would someone have to be to pay fat tax? A size 16? 18? 20? :shifty:

I don't agree with fat tax anyway. As someone said before, if you're going to tax one then you might as well tax them all. What about self harmers or people who try-but fail- to commit suicide? The NHS uses money to help them as well, you know.

Next you're going to try and tax people with Down's Syndrome for not having the same intelligence level as people without it- obviously, they'd be more prone to accidents, right? And obesity as well.

What a silly thread :yep:

Reply 112

Gremlins

tis_me_lord

I see no logical correlation between obesity and being working class. It is certainly not an argument against private health care - it's a damn sight more fair for obese people to pay their own burden than to make other people pay it for them, don't you think?

Go to a supermarket. You'll see that the cheaper meat is, the higher its fat content. Repeat for almost every product there: the cheaper stuff is less nutritious. There's a whole ream of other factors that explain the linkclass and weight, but I don't want to go through them all: I'd be here a while. You're the one with the university library :p:

And it is an argument against private healthcare, since the people with the most urgent need for treatment they can't afford are at the bottom of the social heap. Taking away their healthcare is hardly going to remedy the situation.

Reply 113

death.drop

Vesta

Usually, junk fatty foods are the cheapest. Consider a relatively poor family who live on McDonalds and junk food. Being taxed more would mean they have even less money to spend on food. So they would either eat worse quality food (potentially worse for their health) or not eat at all (which isn't exactly the best course of action).

junk fatty foods aren't the cheapest. fresh fruit and veg is cheapest and takeaway is the most expensive.

A family living on mcdondalds can definitely afford to eat more healthily. I mean, what me and my partner spend on takeaway one night a week isn't far off what we spend in total the rest of the week. If the cost of mcdonalds went up, and they couldn't afford to eat it then they would be forced to buy fresh veg and cook meals from scratch. sounds healthier to me.

chernij

So if they have the occasional "unhealthy" food, it means they will be less likely to get it, so they stay healthy.

if the cost of my weekly takeaway went up, it wouldn't make me less likely to buy it. it would just piss me off. You can stay healthy and still eat 'bad' foods sometimes. Plus, the proposed point of the tax is for obese people to cover some of the money that the NHS is spending on their condition, so why should people who aren't obese pay it?

Many obese people are obese because of genes; low metabolic rate, susceptibility to gaining weight, and so on.

so why would putting the tax on food help that, if it's not the reason they're obese?

The other obese people may be losing weight, yet they'd still need to pay the extra tax?

well it sounds like a better idea than people who aren't obese paying the extra tax. which is besides the point, because i don't agree with the tax in the first place.

Reply 114

.Vengeance.

What about "sex tax"? I mean, promiscuity causes a real strain on the NHS. :rolleyes:

Reply 115

Apagg

AmberH

This post fails on so many levels. If you did tax for simply being fat you'd use body fat percentages (there might be something better than this), not dress sizes or BMI. Though a much easier way is to tax the causes of obesity, such as unhealthy food, and to subsidise healthy living - cheaper healthy foods, access to gyms etc.
Taxing Down's? That's not even analogous - obesity is the result of a choice by the individual, Down's syndrome is not.

Think first, type second :yep:

Reply 116

AmberH

Apagg- You really didn't need to have a problem with my post. I clearly made the point that I DON'T know how they would do the fat tax, so what are you talking about?!
You really didn't understand my post, dear *shrugs*

Reply 117

AmberH

PS apagg, how about you research first, type second. Obesity is always the choice of the individual? Oh dear me, research research research, my love.

Reply 118

_Mazza_

AmberH

PS apagg, how about you research first, type second. Obesity is always the choice of the individual? Oh dear me, research research research, my love.

Yeah, but there is a cure for obesity, eat less.

Reply 119

mart1203

In 99% of cases, yes obesity is the choice of the individual. 1% yeah fair enough are genetically predisposed with bad genes/low metabolism. Too many use excuses for their obesity. Sounds like you need to research Amber.

Sweden (or is it Finland) have it best, they get financial incentives for exercising and staying fit, and not smoking.