Will the sugar tax be all fizz or a weighty blow against obesity?

[barryqwalsh]

Social engineering through the tax system is nothing new. Both Tory and Labour chancellors have become excited at the prospect of initiatives to encourage spending in one area and discourage it in another.

George Osborne is the latest to give it a try. In Wednesday’s budget the chancellor said he wanted to save the nation from an obesity crisis with a tax on fizzy drinks. He said he was convinced that his levy of up to 24p on a litre of fizzy pop would reduce consumption and reap a tax dividend for the exchequer. The independent forecasters at the Office for Budget Responsibility agreed. Without a change in behaviour, Osborne would be more than £900m a year better off, but the likely deterrent effect of a higher price would reduce this to £520m.


Will the sugar tax be all fizz or a weighty blow against obesity?

 

[anotherlife]

I think the sugar tax is much better than the carbon tax. You need it, because you must provide in newly issued government bonds, for the leverage that the banks have already put on the pound.

And not only fizzy drinks. Anything that contains any high fructose corn and/or aspartame.

It would be a miracle, if the British national health service could be sponsored by taxing all the foods and drinks that drive people to it.

 

[Muhammed]

Will the sugar tax be all fizz or a weighty blow against obesity?[/QUOTE]

Social engineering through the tax system is nothing new. Both Tory and Labour chancellors have become excited at the prospect of initiatives to encourage spending in one area and discourage it in another.

George Osborne is the latest to give it a try. In Wednesday’s budget the chancellor said he wanted to save the nation from an obesity crisis with a tax on fizzy drinks. He said he was convinced that his levy of up to 24p on a litre of fizzy pop would reduce consumption and reap a tax dividend for the exchequer. The independent forecasters at the Office for Budget Responsibility agreed. Without a change in behaviour, Osborne would be more than £900m a year better off, but the likely deterrent effect of a higher price would reduce this to £520m.


Will the sugar tax be all fizz or a weighty blow against obesity?

Why don't you just keep yourself in shape in the first place? Why do you need a tax?

Eating a balanced diet and exercising is very fun.

What the hell is wrong with you?

 

[anotherlife]

Will the sugar tax be all fizz or a weighty blow against obesity?

Social engineering through the tax system is nothing new. Both Tory and Labour chancellors have become excited at the prospect of initiatives to encourage spending in one area and discourage it in another.

George Osborne is the latest to give it a try. In Wednesday’s budget the chancellor said he wanted to save the nation from an obesity crisis with a tax on fizzy drinks. He said he was convinced that his levy of up to 24p on a litre of fizzy pop would reduce consumption and reap a tax dividend for the exchequer. The independent forecasters at the Office for Budget Responsibility agreed. Without a change in behaviour, Osborne would be more than £900m a year better off, but the likely deterrent effect of a higher price would reduce this to £520m.


Will the sugar tax be all fizz or a weighty blow against obesity?

Why don't you just keep yourself in shape in the first place? Why do you need a tax?


Eating a balanced diet and exercising is very fun.

What the hell is the matter with you?

Grocery price manipulation? Supply chain manipulation? Healthcare market manipulation? Out of your own obese pocket, of course.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dat way dey can't stay up all night munchin' on Twinkies an Ho Ho's...

Early Bedtime for Preschoolers Could Cut Obesity Risk by Half
July 18, 2016 - Putting your preschoolers in bed by 8:00 p.m. could halve their chances of becoming obese later in life, according to a new study.

Writing in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers from the Ohio State University College of Public Health say bedtimes after 9:00 p.m. appear to double the risk of obesity. “For parents, this reinforces the importance of establishing a bedtime routine,” said Sarah Anderson, lead author and associate professor of epidemiology. “It’s something concrete that families can do to lower their child’s risk and it’s also likely to have positive benefits on behavior and on social, emotional and cognitive development.”

Excess weight among children in the United States is on the rise and a major health concern, with around 17 percent of children and adolescents, 12.7 million, considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For the study, researchers used data from 977 children who are part of the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development project that follows healthy babies born in 1991 in 10 U.S. cities.

A new study suggests putting preschoolers to bed before 8 p.m. can reduce the risk of obesity later on.​

These children, who were 4 ½ years old at the time, were divided into three groups, those who went to bed by 8:00 p.m. or earlier, those who went to bed between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. and those whose bedtimes were after 9:00 p.m. When these children turned 15, the researchers looked at the rates of obesity. For those with the earliest bedtimes, only one out of 10 was obese, compared to 16 percent of those who went to bed between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. and 23 percent for those with the latest bedtimes.

Half of the children went to bed between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., researchers said, while the rest were evenly divided between early and late bedtimes. Anderson said putting children in bed early doesn’t mean they will immediately fall asleep, but that it makes it “more likely that children will get the amount of sleep they need to be at their best. “It’s important to recognize that having an early bedtime may be more challenging for some families than for others,” Anderson said. “Families have many competing demands and there are tradeoffs that get made. For example, if you work late, that can push bedtimes later in the evening.”

Early Bedtime for Preschoolers Could Cut Obesity Risk by Half