There Should Be a Fat Tax Introduced

Despite the staggering increase in numbers of people who are obese, there is an increasing tendency on the part of health professionals to take a "non-judgmental" approach to such problems. The Labour government"s Foresight report blamed the rise in obesity on an "obesogenic environment" " explaining the problem as an inevitable consequence of modern, sedentary lifestyles. When interviewed on Radio 4"s Today programme recently, Alberic Fiennes, of the National Bariatric Surgery Registry, repeatedly referred to obesity as a "disease" " rather than a self-inflicted condition that people have the ability to control through willpower. Of course there are some illnesses and drug treatments which promote weight gain, but such a non-judgmental approach denies the importance of personal responsibility and passes the problem on an NHS which is increasingly unable to cope " particularly in the current economic climate " with everything that it is asked to do. It is unfair that the huge costs of treating and coping with obesity should be passed onto taxpayers. Why are fat people treated differently when public health policy does not take the same attitude towards people who harm their health by smoking or drinking too much? In each case, a tax is imposed which more than covers the cost to the NHS of treating diseases related to these activities. Tobacco taxes raise "9.3 billion a year for the Treasury " more than three times the "2.7 billion which the NHS annually spends treating smoking-related diseases. Alcohol taxes raise "8.3 billion a year, nearly three times the "3 billion annual cost of treating alcohol-related diseases. One of the arguments against a fat tax has been the fact that it would disproportionately hit the poor who are more likely to eat fatty, cheap and convenience processed foods. Indeed, a study by the Institute of Fiscal Studies in 2004 concluded that a tax similar to that now imposed in Denmark would cost the poorest 2 per cent of the population 0.7 per cent of their income. For the richest 10 per cent of the population, on the other hand, the impact would be minimal. Yet there is an easy way for the poor to avoid a fat tax: buy less fatty food. Meanwhile, as well as Denmark"s new fat tax, Hungary has also introduced a tax on all packaged foods containing unhealthy levels of sugar, salt, and carbohydrates, as well as products containing certain amounts of caffeine. Health experts believe such taxes will encourage food manufacturers to make products that have a reduced fat content " and that consumers won"t even notice the difference in taste " and they might be far healthier as a result. Besides ambulances, the NHS has also had to invest in specialist lifting equipment, including cushions at "2,500 a time and specialist stretchers costing between "7,000 and "10,000. The Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust spent "500,000 on extra-large furniture and equipment. In Lancashire, hospitals also spent "42,010 on giant birthing beds for obese women in labour, while Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Swindon spent "3,000 on just one set of scales able to weigh people up to 78st. Then there is the cost of bariatric surgery " an umbrella term for operations involving the reduction obesity, including gastric bands and gastric bypasses. In 2003/04, the NHS performed 470 such operations. That figure rose to 6,500 in 2009/10. Given that a gastric band costs between "5,000 and "7,000, and a gastric bypass between "8,000 and "14,000, this has become one of the fastest-growing drains on NHS budgets. Yet less than 1 per cent of obese patients are receiving the operations, and there is a great deal of pressure on the NHS to increase this percentage.