Should the fat pay more?

 

Our friends on the Health desk, posed the question: Should fat people be taxed more heavily? (Pun intended).

In all seriousness though, in the big ongoing healthcare reform debate, the growing costs of caring for patients with obesity-related diseases has become an issue, um, on the table. (Another pun intended).

So, we ask you, the foodies: Should the fat pay more for their poor food choices?

To read the full article: Tough love for fat people: Tax their food to pay for healthcare

-- Lori Kozlowski

 Photo credit: Tim Boyle / Getty Images

 

Comments

[john]

This is stupid. It's like taxing lighters instead of tobacco and thinking that will reduce lung cancer. "Fat" per se is not the problem; it's the high-carb, high-fat, HFCS-laden processed snack and fast foods that cause obesity. If we're going to tax bad food, the tax should be assessed in proportion to the level of processing the food has undergone, kind of like a VAT.. E.g. Tilamook cheddar -- not exactly a low-fat food -- would be taxed some, but Velveeta hit pretty hard. Fresh OJ -- low tax. Sunny Delight -- high tax. Breyers Ice Cream -- low tax; Weight Watchers "ice cream" sandwiches -- high tax. In other words, food would get more expensive the more things are done to it in a lab or processing facility. Food that's traveled the least distance, literally and figuratively, from the tree, field or animal would be cheapest, all things being equal.

[roland torres]

yes.