Tax the Fat?

[Clunk]

Because that would mean i had to pay more for my fry ups, and for my post ride cake, and god help the man who tries to get between me and cake after 20 miles on the bike.

yeah, but its junk food and its a big part of what is making the nation fat.

[Moby-Dick]

while we are at it I'd advocate a tax on sports equipment....think of all the sunday footballing injuries that occur.

and an extra tax on power tools so that stupid people who attempt DIY and bore a hole in their foot can pay for their own treatment ionstead of more MDF to butcher.

taxing it isn't going to make the problem go away folks - anyone who thinks that they'll personally be paying less because of it is misguided in my opinion.

[dangel]

yeah, but its junk food and its a big part of what is making the nation fat.

what about a tax on computers? Sitting in front of them makes you fat...

[Steve A]

Neg ^^^ i would be skint ..

I do that and im not fat ......

[dangel]

Neg ^^^ i would be skint ..

I do that and im not fat ......

I do and I am Well not that bad but i'm dieting all the same... Gets much harder as you get older (life's soooo unfair) annoyingly. Skinny wretch as a teen!

[Steve A]

I will never be fat just cuddley

[herulach]

yeah, but its junk food and its a big part of what is making the nation fat.

Indeed it is, but it also tastes nice. Why penalise the majority because some people cant be bothered to exercise/diet? Also, think of all the food youre including there, whould you want an extra 50% added to the cost of your butter?

[Clunk]

what about a tax on computers? Sitting in front of them makes you fat...

yeah, well there is that. ill stand up

[Clunk]

Indeed it is, but it also tastes nice. Why penalise the majority because some people cant be bothered to exercise/diet? Also, think of all the food youre including there, whould you want an extra 50% added to the cost of your butter?

makes no difference if you exercise or not, if you eat all that kind of rubbish, you still dramatically increase your chances of heart disease, strokes and diabetes...people with a poor diet dont have to be fat, and they still cost the nhs millions.

i dont eat butter myself, but 50% seems high, why 50%?

as for penalising the majority. i think that offering healthy food at lower prices that every family could afford is a good thing. it would be interesting to see just how many people would be prepared to pay more for junk food and less for fresh produce.

[herulach]

makes no difference if you exercise or not, if you eat all that kind of rubbish, you still dramatically increase your chances of heart disease, strokes and diabetes...people with a poor diet dont have to be fat, and they still cost the nhs millions.

I dont have a particularly poor diet, probably 80% of my meals consist of lean meat and vegetables, i dont drink, smoke, and i do about 50 miles riding a week, in all id say im probably not that likely to have heart troubles do to my lifestyle.

Poor diet is a very vague term, you could eat nothing but veg and still have a poor diet, education of kids is the only way to sort it. And i belive theres already programs in place through the tax credits scheme to give kids free fruit and veg.

i dont eat butter myself, but 50% seems high, why 50%?

50% would bring it in line with other deterrent taxes, tobacco etc, but otherwise its just an arbitrary figure.

as for penalising the majority. i think that offering healthy food at lower prices that every family could afford is a good thing. it would be interesting to see just how many people would be prepared to pay more for junk food and less for fresh produce.

That isnt what youre proposing, making 'junk' food more expensive wouldnt reduce the price of other foods. And how do you decide whtats junk food? fat content? Id still say most ludicrously sugared and salted 'low fat' ready meals are pretty crap. Its too vague a notion.

[Clunk]

And how do you decide whtats junk food?

I wouldnt. I would fly hundreds of dwarves in at half price to do this.

[herulach]

I wouldnt. I would fly hundreds of dwarves in at half price to do this.

See, thats where your scheme falls down, everyone knows you need trained squirrels

[psychy]

I hate the idea of extra tax....the government just gets more and more and wastes more and more on other useless things...

Fine the ultra-fatties (non-medical ones...i.e the greedy pigs)...then use the money for a Beer and BBQ -fest in summer!! For the skinnies (not ultra-skinnies...they cost money too), normals and slightly overweight (i.e me).

Make the fatties watch use eat, drink and eat more. Get them motivated to lose weight to join the club.


OR

Send them to Camp X-Ray.....but call it Camp Fat-Bay

[Lee H]

What they should do is tax the uber large clothing that these folks need.

Why should I pay the same for a t-shirt where some larger sizes use 3 times the material, yet cost the same?

Tax these and then the obese folks would be put in a position where loosing weight would be benefital to their wallet as well as their health

[GDVS]

addiction to food is psychological much like an addiction to gambling.

And that makes it easier to deal with?

Fat people tend not to be happy about being fat which leads to depression which leads to eating more which leads to getting fatter which leads to...

I've been clinically depressed for most of my adult life, I'm also fat. Guess when I started putting on weight? Self loathing isn't fun nor is it easy to deal with.

How about going down the gym? Yeah, because that makes you feel good. All the dirty looks from the fit people really help with your self esteem.

Swimming? Don't make me laugh!

How about taking up jogging? Better do it where there's no kids, they're the cruelest of all.

Being fat is no fun, doing something about it is not as easy as thin people think but it's not impossible.

I'm taking more exercise and trying to eat less crap, I'm getting there slowly. In the meantime what I really need is judgemental assholes to piss off and leave me alone so I can get on with it.

[JPreston]

I agree that Body Mass Index is not the best way to decide someones taxation. What they should do is submerge people underwater and then release them, measuring how quickly they bob to the surface. Sort of a buoyancy tax. This way all the muscular people would not be unfairly penalised.

I've been saying this for years. Smokers contribute net £bn's to the NHS through duty, minus lung cancer costs. The obese pay nothing and cost £bn's. So they should:

1. Tax corporations like McDonalds with a special obesity levy.
2. Charge a higher rate of VAT on clothes above a certain size

or best of all

3. Make it illegal to import, manufacture or own clothes above a certain size OTHER THAN a standard government issued guantanamo bay-style orange jumpsuit. The stigma of wearing the jumpsuit would encourage people to get below that size, and stay below. Then reduce that size each year in the budget, like the fuel tax escalator, until we have a healthy and active population again