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NEWS: Tiago Villanueva Commons committee slates inaction on obesity BMJ 2004; 328: 1335 [Full text]

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tax

Andrew G Montgomery   (4 June 2004)

tax 4 June 2004
Andrew G Montgomery, locum GP various Send response to journal: Re: tax	I am a roving GP in Auckland New Zealand. Here as elsewhere there is a rapidly evolving epidemic of obesity. It was initially most evident in the Polynesian community but is now rapidly spreading to involve people of all ethnicities. It is not uncommon to see prepubertal children who weigh in excess of 80kg. Regardless of what the solutions to the problem may be, the current rapid growth of new entrants to the obese community are going to be hugely expensive to maintain in the foreseeable future. Thus money will need to be raised in order to fund the consequences. I have asked the Minister of Health to present her solutions to this forthcoming cash crisis. I have received no logical response. Nor have I received any from the major opposition party. Clearly the money needs to be raised via taxation . So what should be taxed? I would suggest punitive tax on raw sugar and saturated fat. This would at least oblige the consumers of these unecessary nutrients to pay for the health consequences of their indulgence. This is accepted as rational with regard to alcohol and cigarettes - so why not sugar and fat? Competing interests: None declared