Fat tax

A fat tax is a tax or surcharge that is placed upon fattening food, beverages or on overweight individuals.[1] It is considered an example of Pigovian taxation. A fat tax aims to discourage unhealthy diets and offset the 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.[2][3][4] In fact, eating behavior may be more responsive to price increases than to nutritional education.[5] Estimates suggest that a 1 cent per ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages may reduce the consumption of those beverages by 25%.[6] However, there is also evidence that obese individuals are less responsive to changes in the price of food than normal-weight individuals.[7]

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.[8] 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.[8] Current proposals frequently single out sugar-sweetened drinks as a target for taxation.[9][10] Cross-sectional, prospective, and experimental studies have found an association between obesity and the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks.[11][12] However, experimental studies have not always found an association, and the size of the effect can be very modest.[13]

Since the poor spend a greater proportion of their income on food, a fat tax might be regressive. Taxing foods that provide primarily calories, 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.[10] 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.[6] Indeed, there is a higher incidence of diet-related illnesses among the poor than in the general population.[citation needed]

Unlike placing restrictions on foods or ingredients, a fat tax would not limit consumer choice, only change relative prices.

  1. ^ Wang, Shirley S. (June 13, 2008). "Another Thing Big In Japan: Measuring Waistlines". Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ French, S.A. (2003). "Pricing effects on food choices". Journal of Nutrition. 133 (3): 841–843. doi:10.1093/jn/133.3.841S. PMID 12612165.
  3. ^ Cinciripini, P.M. (1984). "Changing food selections in a public cafeteria: an applied behavior analysis". Behavior Modification. 8 (4): 520–539. doi:10.1177/01454455840084004. S2CID 145429454.
  4. ^ Epstein, L.H.; Handley, E.A.; Dearing, K.K.; Roemmich, JN; Paluch, RA; Raja, S; Pak, Y; Spring, B; et al. (2006). "Purchases of food in youth: influence of price and income". Psychological Science. 17 (1): 82–89. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2005.01668.x. PMID 16371148. S2CID 22764196.
  5. ^ Horgen, K.B.; Brownell, K.D. (2002). "Comparison of price change and health message interventions in promoting healthy food choices". Health Psychology. 21 (5): 505–512. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.21.5.505. PMID 12211518.
  6. ^ a b Brownell, Kelly D.; Farley, Thomas; Willett, Walter C.; Popkin, Barry M.; Chaloupka, Frank J.; Thompson, Joseph W.; Ludwig, David S. (2009). "The Public Health and Economic Benefits of Taxing Sugar-Sweetened Beverages". New England Journal of Medicine. 361 (16): 1599–605. doi:10.1056/NEJMhpr0905723. PMC 3140416. PMID 19759377.
  7. ^ Epstein, L.H.; Dearing, K.K.; Paluch, R.A.; Roemmich, J.N.; Cho, D. (2007). "Price and maternal obesity influence purchasing of low- and high-energy-dense foods". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 86 (4): 914–922. doi:10.1093/ajcn/86.4.914. PMC 2175079. PMID 17921365.
  8. ^ a b Mytton, O; Gray, A; Rayner, M; Rutter, H (2007). "Could targeted food taxes improve health?" (PDF). Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 61 (8): 689–694. doi:10.1136/jech.2006.047746. PMC 2652984. PMID 17630367. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 1, 2011.
  9. ^ Chan, Sewell (December 16, 2008). "A Tax on Many Soft Drinks Sets Off a Spirited Debate". The New York Times.
  10. ^ a b Brownell, Kelly D.; Frieden, Thomas R. (2009). "Ounces of Prevention — The Public Policy Case for Taxes on Sugared Beverages" (PDF). New England Journal of Medicine. 360 (18): 1805–1808. doi:10.1056/nejmp0902392. PMID 19357400.
  11. ^ Malik, V.S.; Schulze, M.B.; Hu, F.B. (2006). "Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 84 (2): 274–28. doi:10.1093/ajcn/84.2.274. PMC 3210834. PMID 16895873.
  12. ^ Vartanian, L.R.; Schwartz, M.B.; Brownell, K.D. (2007). "Effects of soft drink consumption on nutrition and health: a systematic review and meta-analysis". American Journal of Public Health. 97 (4): 667–675. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.583.3469. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2005.083782. PMC 1829363. PMID 17329656.
  13. ^ "More support for a junk-food tax". Los Angeles Times. September 2, 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2010.

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