New Zealand, as a whole, is fat. Last year the OECD ranked us third behind only the United States and Mexico in the obesity stakes, and that’s costing us an estimated $7-800 million a year.
The rise in obesity has been happening for decades, due to the fact we’re eating more and being less active. The food we’re eating is often less healthy and our jobs and lifestyles mean we’ve become more sedentary.
Across the developed world, governments are recognising a bulging issue that’s raising costs and shortening lives. Some say it’s about exercise and personal responsibility, that taxes don’t work, have failed elsewhere and hit your wallet harder than your waistline. Others argue it’s time for governments to remove temptation, that if losing weight was simply about will power we’d all be slim, and that a tax will change behaviour and save lives.
On The Vote this month we debate what New Zealand should do to lose weight. Is it time to tax unhealthy food?
source: newshub archive
