Tax Junk Food?

Group: General Diet & Nutrition

Created: 2011/12/31, Members: 399, Messages: 16719

With such a topic so broad we truly try to cover the basics from all angles in this group. Nothing too big or too small. Nutrition is as significant if not more as exercise is to reaching your goals so learn all you can.

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yadmit Posts: 4,670 Joined: 2003/10/05	2006/03/23, 03:52 PM Would it help? --------------------------------------------- OTTAWA -- The president of the Canadian Medical Association says junk food should be taxed, to combat the epidemic of childhood obesity. Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai says Canada has the second-highest rate of pre-school obesity in the world, after China. Collins-Nakai says healthy choices should be cheaper and more readily available. She adds the other side of the coin is to make unhealthy choices less available, and one way of doing that is to tax them -- as is done with cigarettes. Her comments go beyond a resolution passed at the C-M-A's last general meeting, which called on governments to ban junk food sales at all schools. Collins-Nakai says children's health is being forgotten at a time of increasing baby-boomer demands on the health system. She says Canada now ranks in the bottom third of O-E-C-D countries for child mortality, while as recently as the 1980's it ranked in the top third. She calls the decline ``a national disgrace.'' (CP) -------------- I am training for birthdays. Be here. Live. Love. Hope. Now. Faith. Believe. You. - Keith Urban

flyonthewall Posts: 1,823 Joined: 2005/01/18	2006/03/23, 03:59 PM I thought junk food (bag of chips, chocolate bars etc) were already taxed in Canada. You used to be able to avoid the tax if you bought a drink with it, cause then it was considered a "meal"-lol, don't know if it's still that way. Rather than yet another tax, why not pull the vending machines out of the schools, get rid of "Dairy Queen / Pizza" Fridays, and spend some money on better nutritional education for both kids and parents. Kids couldn't care less if the price goes up because of taxes--look at cigarettes as an example. -------------- Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.
Lonegirl Posts: 446 Joined: 2002/11/13	2006/03/23, 04:05 PM just about Everything is taxed here...PST and GST. But I believe they mean about that....People will just pay more....
Detroit40 Posts: 2 Joined: 2006/03/22	2006/03/23, 07:09 PM i couldn't agree more with flyonthewall. I am 16 and in high school and i have to make my lunch everyday because the only thing they have at school that is heath related is a small thing of veggies (3 baby carrots and a small slice of celery) and a salad bar. The part i don't like is that they charge 2.55 for a medium to large size bowl for salad and you really don't get much but they only charge 2.10 for a slice of pizza and fries.
wrestler125 Posts: 4,619 Joined: 2004/01/27	2006/03/23, 07:56 PM I think its necessary, but I dont see it happening in america. Instead, toilet seats are made bigger, handicapped spaces are more plentiful, and I'm not allowed to call people overweight anymore. America is going in the opposite direction. Schools are now banning protein supplements (shakes and bars) while installing new vending machines. The people that sign these bills need a few minutes ... -------------- Iron and chalk. Pain is only temporary, it is in your mind. If you can still walk, then you can still run.
yadmit Posts: 4,670 Joined: 2003/10/05	2006/03/23, 08:13 PM I think it's somewhat silly. Some schools have removed phys ed and focus more on computer skills and the like. Now, I'm not denying computer skills are necessary, but so is physical fitness. While the thought process may be a step in the right direction, the method they have may not work. Kids are now selling chips and pop from their lockers because healthy choices are all that's available. Re-education, not taxes. t -------------- I am training for birthdays. Be here. Live. Love. Hope. Now. Faith. Believe. You. - Keith Urban
mysticgraces Posts: 422 Joined: 2006/02/21	2006/03/23, 09:20 PM IT wont work...just like increasing the tax/price on cigarettes..if people want them,they are willing to pay more,the same will be for junk food And besides teenagers buying their own junkfood,who is more responsible for bringing it into the house?
wrestler125 Posts: 4,619 Joined: 2004/01/27	2006/03/23, 11:48 PM I disagree mysticgraces. One of the major appeals of junk food is convenience. It is not a question of addiction or desire, but rather junk is cheap and easy. -------------- Iron and chalk. Pain is only temporary, it is in your mind. If you can still walk, then you can still run.
Mojo_67 Posts: 1,299 Joined: 2003/09/23	2006/03/24, 12:49 AM Adding a cigarette tax didn't slow anybodies habit down. Taxing anything doesn't slow people down, just makes them bitch. -------------- Hungry and mean!
mysticgraces Posts: 422 Joined: 2006/02/21	2006/03/24, 06:42 AM Wrestler,but for overeaters and emotional eaters, junk food is an addiction..sugar especially...so those people who crave or must have that bag of chips or m&m's or big mac will pay the extra for it. They will bitch,but they will pay for it...
Stevept Posts: 44 Joined: 2005/11/06	2006/03/24, 08:09 AM Mystic & Wrestler, I think your both right, addiction & convenience both play their part, where I am the same problem exists, chips & chocolate etc will always be sold, so I think it comes down to re-educating the children into the risks that too much of these foods pose, along with alcohol and cigarettes. The price of healthy food needs to come down.
mysticgraces Posts: 422 Joined: 2006/02/21	2006/03/24, 09:01 AM Steve-I agree...we need to educate children AND parents alike.I know from personal experience,that my kids are changing their eating habits,because I have...
flyonthewall Posts: 1,823 Joined: 2005/01/18	2006/03/24, 10:11 AM Just to put a slight positive note on things...In my school district, they finally removed the pop/juice/sugar water vending machines (kindly placed there by the "generosity" of pepsi-co no less) and re-instated a milk program for lunch. They now include a nutrition portion in phys. ed units (gr. 6-8) and in high school one of the manditory cources is nutrition in gr. 10-this was just introduced for the 06/07 year. The high school does offer a lot more healthy choices in their cafe. At least things in my area seem to be moving in the right direction....Having said all this, I handed my daughter money this morning for her lunch at high school (I let her buy lunch on Fridays only)..and I would guess she'll pick up a slice of pizza and a can of pop...what can ya do...
houseofdiet Posts: 161 Joined: 2003/01/07	2006/04/26, 01:58 PM seems to me that the "snack tax" has been tried ... when i lived in california. Anyway...i think they would do a lot better at encouraging kids here in chicago to eat healthy by making it more appealing. I taught in an inner city school where most of my kids were on "free lunch" i think they had greasey pizza like 3 times a week. salad was a handfull of rusty looking lettus/carrot mix slatherd in ranch dressing. and a veggie that was cooked far beyond its natural color. how are kids going to make good choices if they don't get the opportunity to try new things and things that are cooked properly? I was asking some teachers who also teach in the same district and even in the "wealthy" areas its not much better. On a possitive note... they do not allow soda machines on campus (not even in the teachers lounge :(