raising awareness not taxes

Raising Awareness, Not Taxes
A new theory suggests that raising taxes on junk food and soft drinks will lower the obesity rate among the general population. However, obesity is not just a result of eating junk food, and obese people are not the only ones who eat it. Focusing more attention on the way junk food is marketed, increasing health education, and seeking to prevent diseases and lifestyles which cause obesity, will prove more effective than raising taxes.
Those in favor of raising taxes suggest that it will keep people from becoming overweight by making it financially harder on them. This theory is subjective and gambles on how others will perceive the change. Some people may buy less, but others may find alternative ways to afford it. As a smoker, I have noticed a drastic raise in the price of cigarettes over the last ten years. In order to be able to afford a pack of cigarettes, I would spend less elsewhere; eating out, movies, alcohol, clothes, and so on. Because the desire and addiction are constant and overbearing, I always find a way to support my smoking habit. Considering eating can be an addiction, the same concept applies. Raising taxes will not keep people from buying junk food, because there is always room to spend less elsewhere.
Those who support raising taxes base this theory off of one main point - that junk food causes obesity. This conclusion is invalid, due to the fact that it is not the only thing to cause obesity, and not only obese or unhealthy people eat junk food. Many factors such as lifestyle, upbringing, and disease contribute to obesity and poor health. When a person is raised eating junk food, it is usually carried over into adulthood and then cycled through generations. Additionally, certain lifestyles such as partying, busy schedule, the cliche broke college student, and a picky eater can all result in poor health and bad eating habits. Some of the lifestyles, in addition to natural processes, cause diseases like