Examine individual changes

'{{For|the FAT tax for banks|Financial activity tax}} {{Taxation}} A '''fat tax''' is a [[tax]] or [[fee|surcharge]] that is placed upon fattening food, beverages or on overweight individuals.<ref>[http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/06/13/another-thing-big-in-japan-measuring-waistlines/ WSJ-Japan Fat Tax]</ref> As an example of [[Pigovian tax]]ation, a fat tax aims to discourage [[Healthy diet#Unhealthy diets|unhealthy diets]] and offset the [[Obesity#Economic impact|economic costs of obesity]]. A fat tax aims to decrease the consumption of foods that are linked to [[obesity]]. A related idea is to tax foods that are linked to increased risk of [[coronary heart disease]]. Numerous studies suggest that as the price of a food decreases, individuals get fatter.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=French |first=S.A. |year=2003 |title=Pricing effects on food choices |journal=Journal of Nutrition |volume=133 |pages=841–843 |url=http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/133/3/841S |pmid=12612165 |issue=3 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1177/01454455840084004 |last=Cinciripini |first=P.M. |year=1984 |title=Changing food selections in a public cafeteria: an applied behavior analysis |journal=Behavioral Modification |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=520–539 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Epstein |first1=L.H. |last2=Handley |first2=E.A. |last3=Dearing |first3=K.K.|last4=et al. |year=2006 |title=Purchases of food in youth: influence of price and income |journal=Psychological Science |volume=17 |pages=82–89 |pmid=16371148 |first4=DD |last5=Roemmich |first5=JN |last6=Paluch |first6=RA |last7=Raja |first7=S |last8=Pak |first8=Y |last9=Spring |first9=B |issue=1 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01668.x }}</ref> In fact, eating behavior may be more responsive to price increases than to nutritional education.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1037/0278-6133.21.5.505 |last1=Horgen |first1=K.B. |last2=Brownell |first2=K.D. |year=2002 |title=Comparison of price change and health message interventions in promoting healthy food choices |journal=Health Psychology |volume=21 |pages=505–512 |pmid=12211518 |issue=5 }}</ref> Estimates suggest that a 1 cent per ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages may reduce the consumption of those beverages by 25%.<ref name="Brownell & Farley">{{Cite journal |title=The Public Health and Economic Benefits of Taxing Sugar-Sweetened Beverages |first1=Kelly D. |last1=Brownell |first2=Thomas |last2=Farley |first3=Walter C. |first4=Barry M. |last4=Popkin |first5=Frank J. |last5=Chaloupka |first6=Joseph W. |last7=Thompson |first7=David S. |last8=Ludwig |journal=Health Policy Report of the New England Journal of Medicine |url=http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMhpr0905723 |pmid=19759377 |doi=10.1056/NEJMhpr0905723 |year=2009 |last3=Willett |last6=Thompson |volume=361 |issue=16 |pages=1599–605 |pmc=3140416 }}</ref> However, there is also evidence that obese individuals are less responsive to changes in the price of food than normal-weight individuals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Epstein |first1=L.H. |last2=Dearing |first2=K.K. |last3=Paluch |first3=R.A. |last4=Roemmich |first4=J.N. |last5=Cho |first5=D. |year=2007 |title=Price and maternal obesity influence purchasing of low- and high-energy-dense foods. |journal=American Journal of Clinical Nutrition |volume=86 |issue=4 |pages=914–922 |pmid=17921365 |pmc=2175079 }}</ref> To implement a fat tax, it is necessary to specify which food and beverage products will be targeted. This must be done with care, because a carelessly chosen food tax can have surprising and perverse effects.<ref name="Mytton, Gray, Rayner, & Rutter (2007)">{{Cite journal |first1=O |last1=Mytton |first2=A |last2=Gray |first3=M |last3=Rayner |first4=H |last4=Rutter |title=Could targeted food taxes improve health? |year=2007 |journal=Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health |volume=61 |pages=689–694 |doi=10.1136/jech.2006.047746 |url=http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/ceb/community_medicine_page/docs/Jan%2025%20-%20Reading%201.pdf |pmc=2652984 |pmid=17630367 |issue=8 }}</ref> For instance, consumption patterns suggest that taxing saturated fat would induce consumers to increase their salt intake, thereby putting themselves at greater risk for cardiovascular death.<ref name="Mytton, Gray, Rayner, & Rutter (2007)"/> Taxation of sodium has been proposed as a way of reducing salt intake and resulting health problems.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lipidsonline.org/news/article.cfm?aid=8996|title=Salt tax could massively reduce US mortality rates, healthcare costs|date=2010-04-01}}</ref> Current proposals frequently single out [[soft drinks|sugar-sweetened drinks]] as a target for taxation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Chan | first=Sewell |title=A Tax on Many Soft Drinks Sets Off a Spirited Debate |date=16 December 2008 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/17/nyregion/17sugartax.html }}</ref><ref name="Brownell & Frieden (2009)">{{Cite journal |last1=Brownell |first1=Kelly D. |last2=Frieden |first2=Thomas R. |title=Ounces of Prevention&nbsp;— The Public Policy Case for Taxes on Sugared Beverages |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |url=http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/resources/upload/docs/what/industry/SodaTaxNEJMApr09.pdf |year=2009 |doi=10.1056/nejmp0902392 }}</ref> Cross-sectional, prospective, and experimental studies have found an association between obesity and the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Malik |first1=V.S. |last2=Schulze |first2=M.B. |last3=Hu |first3=F.B. |year=2006 |title=Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review |journal=American Journal of Clinical Nutrition |volume=84 |issue=2 |url=http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/84/2/274 |pages=274–28 |pmid=16895873 |pmc=3210834 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vartanian |first1=L.R. |last2=Schwartz |first2=M.B. |last3=Brownell |first3=K.D. |year=2007 |title=Effects of soft drink consumption on nutrition and health: a systematic review and meta-analysis |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=97 |issue=4 |pages=667–675 |url=http://www.ajph.org/cgi/reprint/97/4/667.pdf |pmid=17329656 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2005.083782 |pmc=1829363 }}</ref> However, experimental studies have not always found an association, and the size of the effect can be very modest.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/09/iom-junk-food-tax.html|title=More support for a junk-food tax|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=September 2, 2009|accessdate=2010-02-07}}</ref> Since the poor spend a greater proportion of their income on food, a fat tax might be [[regressive tax|regressive]]. Taxing foods that provide primarily [[calorie]]s, with little other nutritional value reduces this problem, since calories are readily available from many sources in diet of industrialized nations. To make a fat tax less burdensome for the poor, proponents recommend earmarking the revenues to [[subsidize]] healthy foods and [[health education]].<ref name="Brownell & Frieden (2009)"/> Additionally, proponents have argued that the fat tax is less regressive to the extent that it lowers medical expenditures and expenditures on the targeted foods among the poor.<ref name="Brownell & Farley"/> Indeed, there is a higher incidence of diet-related illnesses among the poor than in the general population.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} Unlike placing restrictions on foods or ingredients, a fat tax would not limit consumer choice, only change relative prices. == History == In 1942, U.S. physiologist [[A. J. Carlson]] suggested levying a fee on each pound of overweight, both to counter an "injurious luxury" and to make more food available for the war effort.<ref name="Slate 2009">{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2228713/|title=Let Them Drink Water! What a fat tax really means for America.|last=Engber|first=Daniel|date=September 21, 2009|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]|accessdate=2009-09-22}}</ref> The concept was reintroduced by Milton Merryweather and P. Franklin Alexander in the late 1970s, but became well known in the early 1980s by [[Kelly D. Brownell]], director of the [[Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale]]. Brownell proposed that revenue from [[junk food]] taxes be used to subsidize more healthful foods and fund nutrition campaigns. In a 1994 Op-Ed in the [[New York Times]], Brownell noted that food costs were out of balance, with healthy foods costing more than unhealthy ones.<ref>{{cite news | last=Brownell | first=Kelly | title=Get slim with higher taxes | newspaper=The New York Times | date=15 December 1994 }}</ref> The New York Times Op-Ed piece that proposed the "fat tax" elicited controversy and outrage nationwide. Author Kelly Brownell became the focal point of this controversy, especially from [[Rush Limbaugh]], who spoke out adamantly against the tax and the general principle of [[government intervention|governmental intrusion]] into food choices and a possible invasion of privacy. Brownell’s proposal was listed as number seven on the list of U.S. News & World Report's "16 Smart Ideas to Fix the World."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/971229/archive_008861.htm |title=Silver Bullets&nbsp;— US News and World Report |publisher=Usnews.com |date=1997-12-29 |accessdate=2012-10-22}}</ref> Because of this and other work, Brownell was named by [[Time Magazine]] as one of the "World's Most Influential People."<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1975813_1975844_1976430,00.html | title= Kelly Brownell - The 2006 TIME 100 - Time | last= Huckabee | first= Mike | date= 2006-05-08 | publisher= Time | accessdate= 2013-03-02}}</ref> In 2000 a paper in the [[British Medical Journal]] outlined the potential impact on deaths from ischemic heart disease of a tax on the main sources of saturated fats.<ref>{{cite news | last=Marshall | first=Tom | title=Exploring a fiscal food policy: the case of diet and ischaemic heart disease. | newspaper=British Medical Journal | date=2000; 320:301-5. http://www.bmj.com/content/320/7230/301.full }}</ref> In December 2003, The [[World Health Organization]] proposed that nations consider taxing junk foods to encourage people to make healthier food choices.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03340/248128.stm | publisher=''Pittsburgh Post Gazette'' | date=6 December 2003 | title=World Health Organization wants 'Twinkie tax' to discourage junk foods | first=Anita | last=Srikameswaran | accessdate=13 September 2009 }}</ref> According to the WHO report, "Several countries use fiscal measures to promote availability of and access to certain foods; others use taxes to increase or decrease consumption of food; and some use public funds and subsidies to promote access among poor communities to recreational and sporting facilities." Bruce Silverglade, director of legal affairs for the [[Center for Science in the Public Interest]], said his nonprofit nutrition advocacy organization welcomed the recommendations and has spent years fighting for measures like a Junk Food Tax. The proposal got more traction when New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz proposed taxes on junk food and entertainment contributing to [[sedentary lifestyle]]s to fund nutrition and exercise programs. It should also be remembered {{weasel word|date=February 2013}} that taxing foodstuffs is not an argument for increasing taxation.{{cn|date=February 2013}} Other taxes can be reduced commensurately if the overall objective is to keep the tax take neutral. The fat tax is an argument for raising taxes on activities that we prefer to discourage (consumption of certain foodstuffs) rather than raising taxes on socially desirable activities. Therefore opponents of this type of taxation must identify which taxes are preferable to taxing these foodstuffs.{{OR |date=February 2013}} Other advocates of the tax, such as [[Jonathan Gruber (economist)]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nihcm.org/pdf/ExpertVoices_Gruber_April2010.pdf | title=Taxing Sin to Modify Behavior and Raise Revenue | date=April 2010 | accessdate=7 February 2015}}</ref> point to the effect taxes have had on [[alcohol]] and [[tobacco]] use. Five studies published between 1981 and 1998 found that drinking declined as the price of alcohol increased. The same holds for tobacco. In California in 1988, Proposition 99 increased the state tax by 25 cents per cigarette pack and allocated a minimum of 20% of revenue to fund anti-tobacco education. From 1988 to 1993, the state saw tobacco use decline by 27%, three times better than the U.S. average. A CBS News poll from January 2010 reported that a tax on items such as soft drinks and foods considered to be junk food, is opposed 60% to 38%. An even larger number, 72% of Americans, also believed that a tax would not actually help people lose weight.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=CBS News|title=Poll: Most Oppose Tax on Junk Food|date=January 7, 2010|accessdate=January 9, 2010|first=Brian|last=Montopoli|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/07/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6068825.shtml}}</ref> However, the question of whether or not taxation influences diet is an empirical question and not simply a matter of public opinion. While a February 2010 poll by the [[Quinnipiac University Polling Institute]] found that [[New York]] residents overwhelmingly favor a soft drink tax, with 76 percent wanting the tax, and 22 percent opposing it. The poll found both Republicans and Democrats favor the tax.<ref>New York 1 News, Poll Shows Voters Sweeten To Idea Of Sugary Drink Tax, http://www.ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/news_beats/politics/113892/poll-shows-voters-sweeten-to-idea-of-sugary-drink-tax/</ref> In October 2011, British prime minister [[David Cameron]] told reporters that his government might introduce a Fat Tax as part of the solution to Britain's obesity problem.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/oct/04/uk-obesity-tax-david-cameron |title= UK could introduce 'fat tax', says David Cameron |publisher= The Guardian |date=2011-10-04 |accessdate=2011-11-02}} </ref> ===Japan=== [[Japan]] implemented a measurement of waist sizes in 2008. The ''[[New York Times]]'' wrote: "To reach its goals of shrinking the overweight population by 10 percent over the next four years and 25 percent over the next seven years, the government will impose financial penalties on companies and local governments that fail to meet specific targets. The country’s Ministry of Health argues that the campaign will keep the spread of diseases like diabetes and strokes in check."<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/world/asia/13fat.html Japan, Seeking Trim Waists, Measures Millions-June 2008]</ref> ===Denmark=== In October 2011, [[Denmark]] introduced a fat tax on butter, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, oil and processed food if the item contains more than 2.3% saturated fat.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=BBC News|title=Denmark introduces world's first food fat tax|date=October 1, 2011|accessdate=October 11, 2011|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15137948}}</ref> However, in November 2012, the Danish Tax Ministry announced it would abolish the fat tax,<ref name="denmark-repeals-fattax">{{cite news |publisher=BBC News |title=Denmark to abolish tax on high-fat foods |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20280863 |date=11 November 2012 |accessdate=12 November 2012}}</ref> stating that it failed to change Danes' eating habits, had encouraged cross border trading, put Danish jobs at risk and had been a bureaucratic nightmare for producers and outlets.<ref name="denmark-repeals-fattax" /><ref>{{cite news |publisher=ABC News |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-11/denmark-to-scrap-world27s-first-fat-tax/4365176 |title=Denmark to scrap world's first fat tax |date=11 November 2012 |accessdate=11 November 2012}}</ref> The proposed sugar tax plans were also scrapped.<ref name=nytimesfat/> [[Mette Gjerskov]], the Danish minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, stated that "the fat tax is one of the most criticized we had in a long time. Now we have to try to improve public health by other means.” Although the tax resulted in an additional $216 million in revenue, it also led to numerous complaints from Danish retailers that their customers were taking their business to other countries, such as Sweden and Germany, to take advantage of their lower prices.<ref name=nytimesfat>[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/business/global/fat-tax-in-denmark-is-repealed-after-criticism.html ‘Fat Tax’ in Denmark Is Repealed After Criticism] by Stephanie Strom, ''[[New York Times]]'', November 12, 2012. (note: A version of this article appeared in print on November 13, 2012, on page B4 of the New York edition with the headline: Fat Foods Tax Is Repealed In Denmark.)</ref><ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/11/13/denmark-scraps-worlds-first-fat-tax/ Denmark scraps world’s first fat tax] by Sarah Kliff, ''[[Washington Post]]'', November 13, 2012.</ref> == Scientific research == ===Problems with weight-based fat taxes=== There is no perfect standard for fat taxes. Body mass index (BMI) can be used as a measurement of obesity, however it is not a good indicator of overall health. Using BMI as a standard would prove to be unsuccessful because it doesn’t take many health conditions into account, such as high blood pressure, and doesn’t fluctuate dramatically enough to lower a tax if an individual were to lose weight. Another problem with weight-based fat taxes is that it would come with a high cost and a need for new government administration departments. There is also no evidence that a weight-based fat tax would lead to long-term healthy behavior. There are too many factors that affect what people choose to eat, and fat taxes only account for the economic. Fat taxes are also highly disapproved of by the liberal party because such a tax is stigmatization, discrimination, and an oversimplification of obesity’s complicated causes and the issues surrounding it. The conservative and libertarian party disapprove of fat taxes because it looks to them as if the government is invading the privacy of the American people and trying to dictate how they live their lives. <ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ousborne|first1=Jeff|title=Does This Tax Make Me Look Fat?}}</ref>{{reliable|date=May 2015}} ==See also== * [[Pigovian tax]] * [[Soda tax]] == References == {{Reflist|30em}} == External links == *{{Cite news | title=Shouldn't we tax fatties? Daily Mail article by Giles Coren, host of 'Tax the Fat' More4 documentary. | work=Daily Mail | url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-388001/Shouldnt-tax-fatties.html | accessdate=2006-08-30 | location=London | date=2006-05-27 | first=Lachlan | last=Colquhoun}} *{{Cite news | title=Government unit 'urges fat tax' | work=BBC News | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3502053.stm | accessdate=2006-05-09 | date=2004-02-19}} *{{Cite news | title='Twinkie tax' worth a try in fight against obesity | url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-12-01-obesity-edit_x.htm | work=USA Today | first=Suzanne | last=Leigh | date=2004-12-01 | accessdate=2010-05-02}} *{{cite web | title=Small Taxes on Soft Drinks and Snack Foods to Promote Health | url=http://www.cspinet.org/reports/jacobson.pdf}} *{{cite web | title=Irish government may introduce 'fat tax' on certain foods | url=http://archives.tcm.ie/breakingnews/2005/03/19/story194402.asp}} *[http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/ Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University] {{Soft drink}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Fat Tax}} [[Category:Taxation]] [[Category:Public health]]'