The answer in tackling obesity...

raising taxes on cigarettes hasn't seem ed to have an effect on the number of smokers...

there are a bunch of cities in the us that have a tax on junk food- hasn't stopped much.

the city of chicago has an additional tax on bottles of water to prevent bottles of ending up in landfills - hasn't helped much.

Education is the only thing that will help as far as I can tell..
 
familyweese said:
LOL I get that response from almost every one when they find out I don't like chocolate. I'm like the biggest freak I know lol.
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I have to say, your the first person I've heard of that doesn't like chocolate!!!

Freaks a bit harsh...I would say lunatic :D
 
My husband doesn't like it either. But our children are a totally diffrent story they freak out over chocolate.
 
Where I live in Canada there are no taxes on "essential" foods. There are taxes on chips, chocolate and all the crap.



And yet here I am. But I don't like a lot of chocolate.
 
maleficent said:
the city of chicago has an additional tax on bottles of water to prevent bottles of ending up in landfills - hasn't helped much.
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That's because the tax is only 5 cents per bottle. A mere 5 cents isn't going to stop somebody from buying something.
 
I don't really like chocolate either...something about it...the problem with the taxing of any food or tabacco product is that they cant make it too high or people might go crazy, and the low taxes don't really deteer anyone
 
I'm not too keen on imposing a tax. I'd still keep buying chocolate, and I'd probably eat less vegetables just so I could afford the junk. (Yes, I know it's my biggest downfall. Trying to change, but it is slow going.)

I think I'd consider giving up chocolate (well, at least some of it) if there was a monetary incentive for losing weight. Like, $1 for each pound lost that has been kept off for a year. Or something like that. Maybe even having to donate money or time to charity for each pound I volunteered to lose by a certain date but didn't would be an incentive. I wonder if there are any weight loss groups that do this sort of thing ... I'd join!
 
weightlosschamp said:
I'm not too keen on imposing a tax. I'd still keep buying chocolate, and I'd probably eat less vegetables just so I could afford the junk. (Yes, I know it's my biggest downfall. Trying to change, but it is slow going.)

I think I'd consider giving up chocolate (well, at least some of it) if there was a monetary incentive for losing weight. Like, $1 for each pound lost that has been kept off for a year. Or something like that. Maybe even having to donate money or time to charity for each pound I volunteered to lose by a certain date but didn't would be an incentive. I wonder if there are any weight loss groups that do this sort of thing ... I'd join!
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You should totally start one, that sounds awesome!! I would so do it! :D
 
ummm...I am trying to guess whether you mean "physical" exercise or "psychic" as in psychological exercise? I think both are important! :biggrinjester:

Otherwise, I don't think taxes will do a dang thing. People have to get uncomfortable enough personally that they are willing to change.

ABBA
 
I don't think there can be a single answer to obesity - there are many reasons people become overweight, and why they have trouble losing weight. But I think some pretty simple changes could really impact obesity rates.

- Making nutritional information clearly visible on the menus of chain restaurants. It won't stop anyone from ordering Wendys, but it might make a difference in WHAT and HOW MUCH is ordered if a person is confronted with the calorie count BEFORE food is eaten.

- Make access to gyms and fitness centers available to everyone. A lot of rural areas don't even have gyms - not even YMCAs (I know my parents' town doesn't). Moreover, even where they are available, they're often expensive. My gym membership is currently $25/month, and that's SUPER cheap, but at my heaviest I could have never even afforded that little. Statistics consistently link obesity and poverty, and I think the three key elements in that are cost of food, cost of fitness, and culture.

- Make healthy foods more affordable. This is slowly happening as more and more people demand organic/natural foods. However, it's still hard for people on tight budgets to eat healthy. The cheapest products are also heavily processed. My parents really struggle to keep my dad's diabetes at bay while keeping in budget.

There are certainly a lot of other things that could be done to help. But I don't think that taxing junk food is going to do much good at all - having a negative with no positive alternative isn't going to encourage people to get healthier. We need to make a healthy lifestyle the norm of our culture, and make it available for everyone.

An afterthought: I really think the FDA could do a better job of managing or even stopping the diet supplement industry. Every time another crap "supplement" is advertised on TV my stomach turns. These supplements are presented as legitimate, as having some kind of medical basis - even going so far as to having "doctors" appear in their ads. They feed on the desperation of people who feel like they have no control over their weight, and justify the misconception that there's an "easy" way to get fit. Combined with the junk food industry, it's a double-exploitation of an entire population.
 
Michelle, I googled to see if there are any weight groups that have a monetary or donation incentive. I guess Weight Watchers had a "" program that worked to donate food to the needy, but it ended already. I also found a guy who has a website dedicated to his weight loss/donation story. He even has a page for people to pledge their own . Kind of neat!
 
Phatcat, I second the affordable gym memberships! I'm up north, where it seems like it's either snowing or raining 2/3 of the year. Getting outside to exercise is hard to do with my youngest kid. I go to the mall sometimes to walk, but it's too crowded to get in a fast-paced workout. Finding an affordable gym (with affordable childcare) would be a godsend!
 
Get rid of the Drive thru.... push back the fast food parking lots and create a sort of obstacle course that has to be passed before you can go into purchase fast food. Same with the junk food in the grocery.. put it in it's own area that you have to go through at least 15 minutes of moderate exercise before you can get to it! lol
 
weightlosschamp said:
Michelle, I googled to see if there are any weight groups that have a monetary or donation incentive. I guess Weight Watchers had a "" program that worked to donate food to the needy, but it ended already. I also found a guy who has a website dedicated to his weight loss/donation story. He even has a page for people to pledge their own . Kind of neat!
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Very cool, thanks for letting me know. I'm thinking of pitching that idea to the gym and seeing if anyone would like to join me in it. :D
 
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