Originally Posted by lostalex (Post 4626677)

it's a very discriminatory tax
if you are going to tax people for being fat

Originally Posted by Cromwell1900 (Post 4624037)

Yep would be an interesting read, thanks!

Originally Posted by MTVN (Post 4626715)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7654153.stm



Also found an interesting link regarding the tax revenue from smoking each year http://www.the-tma.org.uk/tma-public...-from-tobacco/

Last year £11.1 billion was apparently raised from tobacco tax

Originally Posted by lostalex (Post 4626789)

why should fast food be targetted? because it's cheap and it makes a profit?
All delicious food is unhealthy. And NO delicious fod is unhealthy. Because it's not about the food, it's about the AMOUNT OF FOOD.

BTargetting the fast food restauirants is BS because fod at very expensive restaurants is just as unhealthy, the onl;y difference is that it's more expensive.

Why should only rich people be able to eat unhealthy food? it's going back in time, when british kinds and queens were all fat, because fat was a sign of wealth.


SHOULD WE GO BACK TO TIMES WEHRE POOR PEOPLE ARE SKINNY AND ONLY rich people are fart??

WHy? i thought we strive for equality. why should we try to make poor people skinny again.

Obesity is a disease.

Originally Posted by Pyramid* (Post 4626798)

We've all had this arguement a zillion times with you lostalex. We know, you think fat people and obese people are ill.

The vast majority are not.

The vast majority of fat people/obsese people are like that due to consuming more calories than the use up. Whether you like that or not, is of no concern to me - but that is FACT.

Originally Posted by lostalex (Post 4626804)

yes, so you don;'t think anorexia is a disease too then? Anorexics only suffer because they eat too few calories, so i guess anorexia is not a disease either pyramid?

Originally Posted by Dezzy (Post 4626822)

It's a nice idea but I don't think it'll work too well in preventing people from becoming overweight but I suppose it'll help towards the healthcare budgets.

Originally Posted by Dezzy (Post 4626850)

A better idea if they wanted to fight obesity would be to give organic and healthy foods a tax break. True organic foods tend to be more expensive then the fatty and processed varieties so why don't they go all the way and reduce the tax on them on top of the tax hike for unhealthy food? Make the fatty foods seem more like a luxury once-in-a-while treat while making the healthier foods more accessible.

Originally Posted by Dezzy (Post 4626850)

A better idea if they wanted to fight obesity would be to give organic and healthy foods a tax break. True organic foods tend to be more expensive then the fatty and processed varieties so why don't they go all the way and reduce the tax on them on top of the tax hike for unhealthy food? Make the fatty foods seem more like a luxury once-in-a-while treat while making the healthier foods more accessible.

Originally Posted by lostalex (Post 4626789)

why should fast food be targetted? because it's cheap and it makes a profit?
All delicious food is unhealthy. And NO delicious fod is healthy. Because it's not about the food, it's about the AMOUNT OF FOOD. French food has way more fat and calories than british food, but British people are fatter, why? because of portions, not because of the food itself.

Targetting the fast food restauirants is BS because food at very expensive restaurants is just as unhealthy, the only difference is that it's more expensive.

Why should only rich people be able to eat unhealthy food? it's going back in time, when british kings and queens were all fat, because fat was a sign of wealth. Look at Victorian times, all people of wealth were fat.


SHOULD WE GO BACK TO TIMES WEHRE POOR PEOPLE ARE SKINNY AND ONLY rich people are fat?

WHy? i thought we strive for equality. why should we try to make poor people skinny again.

Obesity is a disease, just like Anorexia. We should be providing these people with more healthcare, not more taxes.

Originally Posted by Pyramid* (Post 4626777)

Good links.

Let's work on the figures provided by ASH, 9million smokers.

Average that out to approx one each of the 9m smokers buying one packet of 20 fags a day, at a cost of an average £6. That's £54m.

Multipy that with days in a year, and it brings the total to just short of £22million (gross revenue) - so that seems entirely plausible.

Tax on Fast Foods (or Fat Foods) I do think should be the case. They cause a great expense to the NHS, due to the abuse on the body - and should be taxed accordingly - in the same manner as that other damaging product, cigarettes.

Originally Posted by Cromwell1900 (Post 4627562)

Yep but too much Healthy food is better than too much Unhealthy food and i'd guess the Danes know it and would admit it's not a fix that they are implementing but rather a reduction in Obesity and i think it will at least do that.


Regarding Taxes disadvantaging the poor, i absolutely agree and it is a pet annoyence of mine from Fuel taxes and road charging, to Cig taxes. Relatively speaking the richer you are the cheaper things get, surely that's a driving force in why "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer". This is why i don't think the Danes have got it right here and should look at the other end of the ladder to find compensation for Obese patients.

Also is Obesity an illness just like Anorexia? it's a relevant question as i would not want to tax people for being ill but as Pyramid says, maybe another thread




What about Lostalex's and my "Fat Kings" argument:spin: can we tempt you over to the dark side? i have cake!:thumbs:

I'd be happy to agree tax is the way to go if only i did not believe that at the heart of all non sliding scaled taxation is unfairness

Originally Posted by Pyramid* (Post 4626861)

Fat Food tax. If people want to eat foods that may cause health risks, which subsequently will cost the NHS money to treat such related problems, then yes: they should pay additional tax.

Originally Posted by lostalex (Post 4627652)

Every FOOD causes health risks if you eat too much of it. It's not about WHAT food you eat, it's about HOW MUCH.

The Japnese are some of the slimest people on the planet, but they eat a LOT of rice which has no nutritional value at all, it's pure simple carbs. A Hamburger has more nutritional value than a bowl of rice.


It's about portions and activity level. Not about any specific type of food.

Targeting fast food is just an easy target exploiting people's latent anti-Americanism.

Obesity is an epidemic because we sit on our asses all day and arn';t out in the fields doing manuel labour anymore. It has nothing to do with the food we eat, it has to do with us all have ergonomic office chairs and cushy lounge chairs in front of the TV.

If you want to solve the obesity crisis PUT A TAX ON CHAIRS, not food.

Originally Posted by Pyramid* (Post 4627717)

The Japanese are one of the healthiest races out. As for calling them the some of the slimiest people on the planet -get a grip lostalex, we have members on here who are Japanese.

Obesity may be an epidemic - but not one borne from illness. It's through eating too much of the wrong stuff and not enough exercise. It's not rocket science.

as for putting tax on chairs - this is meant to be a serious discussion - so there is little point in adddressing anything else you have to say.

Originally Posted by chuck.pass (Post 4627754)

I get it now, you're feeling personally offended because adding tax to fast food is making it look as if only American food is unhealthy. It's not about health, it's about people having one more reason to be anti-American.

Originally Posted by lostalex (Post 4627725)

on a side note, Obese people are not more of a burden on the NHS, because obesity GREATLY reduces ones lifespan, therefore, obese people die earlier, and therefore put LESS burden on the NHS, just like smokers. If obese people only live to 50-60, that's only 50-60 years of treatment on the NHS, skinny people that live to 90-100 are the REAL burden on the NHS, they are receiving almost TWICE the amount of care that obese people receive over their lifespan. So we should have a tax on OLD people by your logic, Old people are the biggest burden on the NHS. The longer someone lives, the more burden they are on the NHS!!!

Originally Posted by Pyramid* (Post 4627783)

You are rehashing the same old (completely invalid) argument that you tried a few weeks ago, in which you made a fool of yourself - because you know about the NHS system in the UK.

As chuck.pass has just stated, it's coming over very much that you are taking this all so very personal - which by doing so - completely negates your ability to discuss this subject in any reasonable fashion.

Consider yourself ignored for any remaining posts as far as I'm concerned.

Originally Posted by Pyramid* (Post 4627571)

You cannot tempt me sir, not with cakes anyway! Chocolate ice-cream, crisps, peanuts and Nutella - and I'll get my cloak. :devil: I also love BBQ spare ribs - do they count?