It was reported in March by the Centres for Disease Control in the U.S. that obesity is quickly catching tobacco as the leading cause of preventable deaths. There has been talk that governments need to levy higher taxes on junk food and fast food meals. They have also talked about regulating food ads and making sure that restaurants print the nutiritional values of all of the items on their menus. But somehow I think that the governments are making the same mistake that they made and continue to make with cigarettes. We all know that eating those carrot or celery sticks are healthier for us than that creme filled donut or that bag of chips or those fast food french fries, but most of us still eat those unhealthy items as a choice. Raising taxes on cigarettes hasn't really worked that well to prevent smoking...if you want to you will. The same thing applies to increasing taxes on junk and fast food. If we want that donut we are still going to buy that donut. It's the plain and simple truth. Are regulating food ads going to work? I don't know about you but I don't go to the fast food restaurant or donut shop because of the ads I see on TV or in magazines. I go because that is what I want to eat at that time. What about printing the nutiritional value of menu items? Ya right...I really care how many calories or how much fat the donut or french fries that I came to eat and enjoy have. But what is the solution?
Maybe the solutions that need to be considered with both the cigarette and obesity related health problems are through our health care system. Maybe those that have to go to the doctors or hospitals because of these problems need to pay more to the health system that they are continuing to deplete. Maybe it requires those people to pay higher premiums than the rest of the people. Maybe it will require mandatory yearly or bi-yearly physicals to ensure we are healthy and not smoking. I am not sure how this would work but I think that those people who are taxing the health system need to pay higher stakes. Maybe it is a combination of higher taxes on the cigarettes and junk food and higher health care costs to those that use the system because of preventable diseases. The ultimate solution lies there somewhere. There has to be a way to change the bad habits of the chain smoker or couch potato (or both). Making both cigarette and junk food expensive through taxation may work in helping us curb our bad habits. Knowing it is going to cost us or our loved ones a huge price to fight our sicknesses might also help. Maybe the combination of both will help. Maybe subsidizing healthier items such as fruits, vegetables, fitness centres etc. is also part of the solution. It is obvious though from all the reports we read, if we don't find a solution to preventable diseases soon and change our lifestyles and choices, we will kill our health care system. And the last thing we want is a health system that is available to only those that can afford it (assuming anyone can after we pay the increased taxes on our cigarettes and junk food). And don't get me wrong...I fit into the bad choices when it comes to eating so I am at fault as much as anyone.
What do you think??? Leave me a comment
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