Time for a Sugar Tax or VAT on some foods

setmefree2

cells wrote: »

No. Reserch shows that those who diet and manage to keep their weight off long term are those who keep constant track of their weight.

Everyone should get into the habit of weighing themselves every morning. Its a hell of a lot easier to keep at a normal weight and do something about it when you are 2kg over than to not notice it and decide when you are 20kg over to do something

would cost next to nothing and would slim down millions of people imo.

Indeed.

The chance of returning to a normal weight after becoming obese is only one in 210 for men and one in 124 for women over a year, research suggests.

or roughly 5% of obese men and 9% of obese women will ever return to a normal weight.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-33551498

....you only have to weigh a few stone more than you should to be obese - from 3 stone to 5 stone depending on your height.

setmefree2

CLAPTON wrote: »

what works for some-one with a generally good diet, does exercise regularly but is a little over weight is unlikely to work for some-one with an awful diet, never exercises and is hugely overweight

Someone who is hugely overweight is doomed. The UK's fattest man died at 33.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/11690623/Britains-fattest-man-dies-weighing-65st.html

He might as well have smoked or drank 'cos he probably would have got longer than eating himself to death.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

purch wrote: »

I agree entirely.

The person claiming to have a "degree" in Biology who posted this uneducated nonsense should be ashamed of themselves.

I'm not particularly bothered about being thought rude in regard to obesity in society; diabetes aside for the moment, I am genuinely shocked at the sizes of portions people think are normal, the amount of constant snacking/grazing, that people can't watch a 90 minute film without a bucket of cola and sack of popcorn, the rising levels of tooth decay amongst young children, the increased littering and excess packaging of junk products etc etc. Also the complete lack of any personal responsibility for anything anymore; it is always either the government or a big evil company's fault.

I don't think it is unreasonable or "uneducated" to start with the NHS and the UK's main diabetes charity (I am sceptical of the various online medical websites that are listed if you search for symptoms/causes of any condition). As with all scientific standpoints, theories are only valid until proven otherwise- it would actually be very interesting to know what is the threshold for them to change their advice (certain number of studies in a number of key journals? Another country changing their official advice? A meta-analysis of a certain number of studies?).

kabayiri

setmefree2 wrote: »

Indeed.

or roughly 5% of obese men and 9% of obese women will ever return to a normal weight.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-33551498

....you only have to weigh a few stone more than you should to be obese - from 3 stone to 5 stone depending on your height.
...

And yet we have a calendar of events as a society which creates peaks in consumption.

There is a general acceptance to eating to excess at Christmas time, or when away on holiday. How many New Year diets fail?

I think I was like many who would adopt a health based resolution for New Year. It didn't really work.

purch

The fact of the matter is that a large majority of people who develop Type 2 Diabetes have done so due to their Lifestyle, but their lifestyles have been no different to millions of other people.

If you have the genes that mean you will develop Diabetes then you will, if you don't you will just be fat/obese and prone to other issues.

The biggest issue is the cost of treating Diabetics who do/can ot control their blood glucose levels, and that is made worse by the standard NHS treatment which is to precribe Metformin which does little to help, and advise people to eat the "healthy" plate diet, and include plenty of carbohydrates every day.

If they gave proper advice, they would not need to spend billions on year on additional treatment.

beecher2

purch wrote: »

If you have the genes that mean you will develop Diabetes then you will, if you don't you will just be fat/obese and prone to other issues.
t.

Surely it isn't inevitable? If someone has the genes then can't they avoid health problems by healthy eating and exercising? It all sounds a bit fatalistic. It is possible for most to avoid being at or obese.

purch

beecher2 wrote: »

Surely it isn't inevitable? If someone has the genes then can't they avoid health problems by healthy eating and exercising? It all sounds a bit fatalistic. It is possible for most to avoid being at or obese.

Err....

What I said was that if you are one of the many millions of people who make poor lifestyle choices and become overweight AND you have the wrong genes then you will develop diabetes. If you are one of the vast majority who make those choices and get fat but don't have the genes you won't develop diabetes.

Of course it is not inevitable for those with these genes to develop diabetes, just as it is not inevitable for those with genes that cause cancer to actually develop cancer, and the same will be true for a whole host of diseases.

setmefree2

purch wrote: »

If they gave proper advice, they would not need to spend billions on year on additional treatment.

If people didn't get fat they wouldn't get type 2 diabetes, and the NHS wouldn't need to treat anyone. Full Stop.

The other thing is, once you get type 2 diabetes there is no cure.

There needs to be a loud message to stop people drifting towards this illness before there is no way back.

If there are 3.3 million people with diabetes today as a result of their obesity (and the two are by no means always linked), what it will be like in 20 years’ time?

If we can’t persuade, nudge and nag people into eating less and exercising more, can higher prices change habits? There is a universal rule when it comes to predicting human behaviour: if the cost of doing something is too high then fewer people are likely to do it, as we have seen with smoking. The price of a packet of 20 cigarettes has risen from £1.65 in 1990 to around £8.50 today. Nearly 80 per cent of that is tax. Lots of people still smoke but the numbers have halved in 25 years. True, health education and the smoking ban have had a huge impact but so, too, has the cost.

The duties contribute towards treating the diseases associated with excessive drinking and smoking. Even if taxing sugar (specifically sucrose and fructose) and pushing up the cost of the processed foods and drinks to which it is added do not change eating habits, at least the money can be used to offset any future treatment bills.

If those most prone to obesity simply won’t listen and the costs to the NHS continue to soar, a fat tax might be the only answer.

Nick_C

Getting back on track, and having just read the entire thread;

1) Its absolutely crazy that there should be VAT on unflavoured bottled water
2) As others have already pointed out, there is standard 20% VAT on soft drinks. I think diet drinks should be zero rated, both in restaurants and in retail outlets. I think if a diet coke in a take away was £1.00, and a standard coke was £1.20, a lot more people would switch to the diet version.
3) I like the idea of VAT on all processed food. Probably start at 5% initially. France charges 5% VAT on all retail food.

purch

setmefree2 wrote: »

If people didn't get fat they wouldn't get type 2 diabetes

If only that was true.

Then the thousands who develop the disease every year who have never been fat or obese would be in the clear.

I'm one of those thousands, and that is why I know so much about the disease and it's causes.

I hope if you have to have your Gall bladder removed, you don't like me have these awful genes.

P.S. When I was diagnosed I used to tell people I had caught "Fat persons disease".................but now I have read up on it I have a different view on the matter.