Excerpted from AOL News: Germany Weighs Tax on the Obese, July 23, 2010
Germany, famed for its beer, pork and chocolates, is one of the fattest countries in Europe. Twenty-one percent of German adults were obese in 2007, and the cost of treating obesity-related illnesses is about $21.7 billion, a year.
Germany’s health system is paid for by a series of mandatory health insurance funds, all of which are reporting serious deficits as the system is overused.
A conservative member of parliament said it is unfair and unsustainable for the taxpayer to carry the entire cost of treating obesity-related illnesses in the public health system.
“I think that it would be sensible if those who deliberately lead unhealthy lives would be held financially accountable for that.”
A health economist called for Germany to tackle the problem of fattening snacks in order to raise money and reduce obesity.
“One should, as with tobacco, tax the purchase of unhealthy consumer goods at a higher rate … that applies to alcohol, chocolate or risky sporting equipment such as hang-gliders.”
The German teachers association recently called for school kids to be weighed each day,
The fat kids could then be reported to social services, who could send them to health clinics.
A professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, described the idea of a fat tax as “not humane … since lifestyle is not the only factor in obesity, with both genetics and urban environments playing major roles … Most people who are obese would prefer not to be so.”
Full article:
http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/germany-considers-tax-on-the-obese/19566425
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