Preview

A Modest Proposal: Obesity

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
683 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Modest Proposal: Obesity
My Modest Proposal Obesity rates in the United States are among the highest in the world. Around two thirds of the adults living here are either overweight or obese and around 200,000 deaths in the United States are cause from obesity and causes health problems including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. This is a major problem in our society to this day and continues to get worse and worse every year. My modest proposal would be to create a new tax called a “fat” tax that raises your regular taxes by a certain percentage, if your body fat percent is above the recommended, based on World Health Organization and National Institutes of Health recommendations.
Every year, the majority of people living in the United States have to pay their taxes. With the new fat tax, every person would have to get thoroughly examined by a licensed doctor and given a document that has his or her body fat percentage. For every percent of body fat over the World Health Organization’s required percent, they would be taxed an additional charge added to their regular taxes, taking account of age, height and any other factors regarded as relevant. This would dramatically change the country as a whole in various ways. Fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, the leading fast food chain, would start shutting down and go out of business eventually. The country would start a new generation of healthier, cheaper, and more efficient ways of fast food chains so that not only the poor and middle classes would eat them, but the upper class American citizens would start eating at them as well.
This new proposal would encourage more and more people to work out and burn off the extra calories consumed in their day. The country in a whole would become, possibly, the most healthy and fit country in the world if this Fat tax proposal were adopted. By just the simple act of eating healthy and working out daily, the United States would befit in heaps of ways. People’s life expectancy

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the “Fat Tax” by David Leonhardt, he believes that obesity is a major cause of health problems for the American people. Leonhardt discusses with Dr. Delos M. Cosgrove, the chief executive at Cleveland Clinic, who started an initiative to stop hiring smokers. Cosgrove also stated “if there weren’t legal issues, he would not only stop hiring smokers. He would also stop hiring obese people” (636). Cosgrove believes that a person should be held accountable for their actions and choices when it comes to their weight, which would also include charging higher health premiums to people with a certain body mass. While Leonhardt does see diet as part of the problem, he also realizes the environment and the cost of food as a contributing factor. To…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Junk Food Persuasive Essay

    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Obesity can affect any person from young children to older adults. When I was younger, my grandpa had a heart attack because he had high blood pressure and he did not eat good food. In fact, today two- thirds of adults and nearly one- third of children struggle with obesity. There are many causes of obesity, including overeating, lack of physical activity, and genetics. There are also many health issues caused by obesity. The effects are depression, eating disorders, and death. For these reasons, the government needs to address this serious health concern. One solution to do so is raise Junk- Food taxes. Junk- Food taxes will encourage healthy eating in schools, consumers will buy more healthy foods, and it funds physical activity programs, and lowers health care costs.…

    • 1119 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Firstly, a possible benefit of a tax like this is that it would reduce the cost and burden placed upon the NHS. The NHS have to face obese related illnesses, that could be avoided if the public were to consume healthier foods. Illnesses such as type 2 diabetes and knee and hip operations are some of the many illnesses that are stimulated by over eating, these two alone contributing a large amount of the total 2.5 billion pounds lost to the economy in 2006 as well as the other contributing effects such as premature death, sick pay and incapacity benefits. This could also be good as the money raised through taxes could be used in helpful ways such as subsiding cheaper, more healthy foods, giving people who find it more difficult to afford the foods that are better for you a chance to buy them and get out of the vicious circle of only being able to afford foods that are high in salts, sugars and saturated fats. In order for this to work however the government needs to make sure they internalise the externality and increase the private costs to the individuals that consume these such products, therefore reducing the overall quantity demanded.…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    We the people of the United States have a problem in our midst, Obesity. While most recognize the importance to stop it, few can agree on a viable method to fight it. It is a problem, no doubt, but it is a problem that lies within every single american. That being said, only people themselves can do something about it, the government can’t simply pass a few laws and put an end to this epidemic. It is not the government’s job to keep people healthy, the U.S. is a democratic Republic and if it intends to stay that way, government will stay within its boundaries, and out of the personal lives of the citizens who consider themselves free.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the United States, obesity has become one of the most prevalent and prominent issues. Currently, various organizations had classified obesity as a major public health concern, affecting a large number of the American populace. As such, it has been considered a national epidemic. Estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the National Institutes of Health suggest that two-thirds of adults are considered overweight/obese while one-third of adults are considered obese. In addition, obesity has been shown to have numerous effects on one's health as well as a significant effect the economy. In the U.S., $190.2 billion is spent on obesity-related illnesses (Cawley, 2012), annually. This number will continue to rise in later years, as well as the number of Americans with obesity.…

    • 222 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Obesity in the UK

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages

    With obesity becoming this prevalent in our society is it not time we address this issue? I think it is, and one of the best ways in my opinion is to introduce a tax on fizzy drinks and fast food. This may sounds rather drastic when first heard but consider the £5.1billion spent every year by the NHS to treat those with obesity related medical conditions. Now consider the 2535 branches of Burger King, McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut located all around Scotland and England, consider the number of products those branches sell and the amount of money that could be raised through taxes upon those products. That money could be spent on our NHS which is being crippled under the weight of budget cuts and the cost obesity is having certainly isn 't helping the load. These taxes could also deter many from the promise of quick, cheap food from these outlets and could send them in the direction of healthier options. The recommendations in favour of taxing these food are quite reasonable, such as recommendation of taxes of twenty percent on sugary drinks for at least a year being put forth.…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    There is no room for doubt that obesity is a nationwide health concern, nor is there any doubt regarding the importance of fighting this problem. The efforts of congress to battle this disease through health care reform is not only appropriate but…

    • 2259 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    There has been a growing concern towards the issue of obesity and efforts were made by governmental and non-governmental organizations to tackle this health problem. New York City’s proposal for labeling regulations for the food and beverage industry marked the start of government intervention into the market to fight obesity, and many states soon followed suit (Brownell et al., 2012, p. 384). A recent tax proposal on sugary beverages has caused uproar among the beverage industry because this tax, unlike the previous labeling regulations, is targeted directly towards the beverage industry. It is difficult to implement a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages because some people oppose it on the grounds of how much of a paternal role the government should play in the people’s lives. Presently, U.S. state governments are debating whether the 1% per once tax on soda and other sugary beverages can effectively combat obesity. It would be a serious mistake to impose a tax on sugar-sweetened beverage because sugar-sweetened beverage is not the main cause of obesity, the tax wrongly attributes a large portion of responsibility of obesity to the consumers, and the tax cannot ensure a decline in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.…

    • 1646 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Second, the junk food should be taxed because it will help to reduce the costs of treating medical issues to which junk food contributes. It will reduce medical costs that obese…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Obesity is a medical condition in which excess fats have grown and accumulated to the point of harm, and a shortened life expectancy. Obesity is a problem that has been more prominent in the 20th and 21st century and is now a main concern for both society and the government. It is the citizen’s duty to resolve this epidemic known as obesity in the United States.…

    • 635 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Junk Food Taxes

    • 1144 Words
    • 5 Pages

    For years health experts have been warning Americans to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle. Over time obesity rates have tripled. It is obvious we are losing the battle against obesity. Combating obesity and its numerous illnesses will not require more drugs to lower cholesterol, diet books, or workout videos. It will require rethinking our environment. Other measures need to be taken to tackle this national epidemic. Addressing this issue is no easy task. Several experts have suggested implementing a junk food tax. This would provide funding to regulate junk food, its advertising, and many other areas improving our health. This idea has sparked a wide controversy in regard to the obesity issue, the benefits of such a tax plan, and our cherished individual freedom that health is our own responsibility.…

    • 1144 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Our world today, it seems all people are doing is eating out and sitting on the couch. The influx of easily available junk food is causing people to gain weight at a much higher rate than in previous years. This might be because people are ill-informed about what they are putting into their bodies and what the consequences are of them eating poorly. While this poor diet could be counter-balanced with exercise, many people are falling short of their recommended daily regimen. Readily available food and soda has become a newer phenomenon in the last couple of decades, and it continues to become larger problem every year. This is something not many people think about, but it is a problem because more and more people are choosing to eat fast food instead of staying home and cooking healthy meals…

    • 2000 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fast Food Tax

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A federal tax on junk food would greatly benefit communities throughout each state. The tax dollars could possibly go toward improving infrastructure, expanding education and establishing local farmer markets. This tax will be valued by citizens in more ways than one. It will ultimately lower the obesity rate in the United States.…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fat Tax

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Although it might affect people with a small budget I don’t think it will affect people with a bigger budget. In a ABC news broadcast, Steive from the Arizona highway magazine states, “the fat tax is a regressive tax that will affect the low income people much more than people with money. People with money can afford to go to good healthy restaurants; poor people go to drive threws.” (could a fat tax). People are always going to go out of their way to obtain whatever it is they want. I don’t think we should give the government the right to tell us what we can and can’t eat. We are all different and fatty foods react differently to everyone. On some people fatty foods can act a lot worse than on to others; to someone else it can just be part of their regular basis diet. Fatty foods can be part of someone’s lifestyle. At times fatty foods can be cheaper than having to go out to the market and spending a lot of money in purchasing groceries. Fatty foods are a quick alternative to eating a quick meal. Not only will it affect people purchasing the fatty foods but it will greatly affect restaurant owners as well. The way it will affect these restaurant owners is because they won’t…

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fat Tax

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages

    One of the culprits of contributing countless obese people is our unhealthy eating lifestyle. Hong Kong people today are taking an unbalanced diet. It is not uncommon for us to take in meals which are often full of saturated fats. In order to alleviate this problem, one useful way is to introduce ‘fat tax’ on foods high in saturated fat. In 2011, Denmark has implemented the world’s first fat food tax, levying a surcharge to food with more than 2.3 percent saturated fats. According to the Associated Press, saturated fats may lead to cardiovascular disease and cancer. In an effort to reverse this trend in Hong Kong, it is vital for our government to take this initiative and model the aforementioned Denmark’s policy.…

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics