Tax on fizzy drinks and curb on takeaway outlets to fight obesity: good idea or not?

I think that what the Govt has got to do is sit down with other interested parties

Define 'interested parties'. You see, interested parties could include food manufacturers who have a vested financial interest and without their support it will be next to impossible to enforce any changes. As I've mentioned previously on this thread many have an interest in reducing sugar intake for example.

But they actually have no interest in making us healthy. Just making money. Health is just another marketing ploy. Which is one of the reasons we are all struggling so much to understand what really is healthy. We can't tell the difference between real messages and advertising messages because the lines have been blurred.

And get rid of this 'bad' food nonsense once and for all.

The sugar (and/or artificial sweetener) in fizzy drinks is just one of the many issues these products present health-wise. There's also phosphorous in very high levels which affects bone density, and caffeine for example.

Tax tax tax them away please!!

They offer nothing nutritionally positive and actually deplete our body nutritionally just processing them through our system. A healthy individual having the odd fizzy drink and an otherwise balanced diet this probably isn't a problem. If this isn't the case each fizzy drink adds a toxic burden to an already challenged and depleted system.

Get rid!

I think it's a good idea but only alongside a drop in taxes in raw fresh food.
tbh, I don't think anyone needs cookery classes to learn to cook, just read a simple recipe and follow instructions.
However, I must add that in order to cook from scratch, one needs to be equipped, and kitchen equipment cost money.
As someone else said, action is better than none.

I'm tired of Big Brother telling me what I can and cannot eat/drink,

if I want to eat chips and drink Coke, I bloody well will!

They should consider making healthy food cheaper,

I also think that schools should concentrate on getting our children good grades in essential subjects and it is parental responsibility to make sure your child is not a plonker and eats chicken nuggets and pizza for every meal.

I refer you to this conversation:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1686838-AIBU-to-ask-if-your-10-year-old-can-make-toast

If you wont allow a 10 year old to make toast and boil a kettle, then why is there a surprise that a 18 year old cannot cook for themselves?

Whatever the causes of obesity, it is clearly getting worse and any messages the government or anyone else has tried to give us, clearly aren't being heard.
For 20 years we were told high fibre, low fat.
Now we are beign told no sugar.
No carbs.
No one knows whether they are coming or going.
And the answer to obesity? well it clearly isn't that simple, or else we'd all know what it is. And clearly none of us do.

We very rarely drink fizzy drinks - me probably about once a month, the children, probably once a week / fortnight once holidays are factored in. If it was taxed, it would cost me a bit more, but not much because we don't drink that much.

For those that do drink lots, maybe the tax might be something they take account of? Clearly the Doctors think so, but it would be good to see a bit of research on the matter.

A friend of mine is a dentist who works in deprived areas. She has seen some appalling teeth, the result of excessive fizzy drinks (that is all that some people drink....suggesting that water might be suitable was apparently greeted with shock and disbelief) and poor diet. I do think that education is at the root of the problem, but there is a hell of a way to go. Having done some voluntary work (cooking lessons) in a Sure Start centre, it was eyeopening for me - as detailed in one of the posts above. Some people have NO IDEA where to start. Bring back Home Ecomonics.

I agree with the idea of imposing 20% VAT on all processed and take away food but it should be zero rated (ie VAT free) for all unpackaged raw fresh food. I would then remove all VAT on domestic home heating fuel, domestic natural gas and domestic electricity supplies.

That way, people on low incomes would not be worse off and could actually be better off if they bought fresh foods to cook at home.

Tax can be 'good' if we tax the things that are bad for people. I do not agree that tax should be some sort of punishment on 'fat people' or imposed in such a way that it disroportionately hits the poorest peple in society or impose tax on essential goods like food, heat and shelter.

A bit harsh, PolkadotCircus!

Perhaps Rosie you eat too much,consume too much fat and sugar and get too little exercise alongside eating lettuce and drinking diet drinks.

Perhaps, Rosieeo, you should consider trying the non-diet versions for a month and see if it makes any difference? Isn't there supposed to be something about using artificial sweeteners in drinks which tricks your body into continuing to feel hunger? So you drink a calorie-free drink to save on calories but then feel hungry so eat twice as much? .

Hmmm, I'm vastly overweight and only ever drink diet drinks. Maybe Diet Coke should be banned. And lettuce. I eat a lot of lettuce too...

tee, I'd say the tax has a role in the smoking revolution. Again, no ONE thing has done it, but the factors you cite have worked TOGETHER to save lives. (My mother died of lung cancer..)

Same with obesity. It doesn't have a SINGLE cause, but many caused in combination - increasing sugar levels in everything, transfats, reduced exercise levels, sodas and lattes, snacking and snack foods, increased portions. All play a part. So we need to chip away at it. Taxes are one way, though only one.

Maybe we should all have 'smartcards' for food and when we've reached out maximum recommended intake of something we are not eligible to buy any more of it.....??? Big Brother gone mad but it's one solution..... it might help to cut down on alcohol consumption too....

I think that what the Govt has got to do is sit down with other interested parties and look back to see just when/why this obesity problem hit British shores. As I've said before when we were children it was very unusual to get more than one fat child in a school and obesity was rare. What has changed (portion size for one) and why?

Sorry...

But have people stopped smoking because of the tax or because of the tax, the health factors and the fact that you freeze you ass off 9 months of the year smoking outside in the UK?

But have peo

Because nobody needs them and they are very bad for health even just a couple of times a week.They can effect metabolism,make you want more and give you a very sweet tooth.They are just liquid sugar nobody should be drinking them.

Why should people who occasionally buy fizzy drink be penalised because some people are gluttons?

Sooooooo you do nothing?

It is but one thing in a pretty comprehensive list that starts to tackle the problem.None would work on their own and all wouldn't solve it.More will need to be done too.

There is no quick fix possible but a whole host of solutions that will take time to have an impact.

We sooo need to get started on something instead of everybody pontificating,sticking their heads in the sand and doing nothing.

Lots of issues being confused here.

1. The tax on fizzy drinks won't in itself cure obesity - whoever thought it would? But it might be one minor factor in ameliorating it.

1. Fizzy drinks are a luxury, and should be taxed as one. This in itself should deter people from making them a fixture of their lives.

1. The smoking tax HAS had an impact - far far fewer people smoke now than was the case thirty years ago.

I don't feel comfortable about this at all and I'm saying that as someone whose family doesn't do sugary drinks (except a glass of lemonade as as treat when we are out for a meal) and don't have them in the house.

It's not just the fizzy drinks that are making people/children fat, is it? It's a combination of things, including lifestyle. And you are right that drinks full of artificial sweeteners are probably worse for people than those containing 'natural' sugars.

Also, teenagers have always eaten rubbish. They are also growing so need the extra calories. I don't think that the fast food outlets outside schools are the problem per se either. It's much more complicated than that! Of course those in power who spent their school years at Eton (and the like) won't have been "down the chippie" in their lunchbreak but if it's not chips, it's sweets or crisps. Find me a teenager who doesn't eat 'ket'. If you find an overweight teenager chances are that they will have been overweight since childhood (suggesting other factors to be at work too) rather than just because of chips, sweets and crisps.

And note it is very often the unhealthy food/drink options that are on special offers in the supermarkets...funny that! Perhaps the supermarkets have a duty of care to ensure that only 'wholesome' healthy foods are used in special offer promotions.

Sounds a great idea to me. It isn't a nanny state because people are free to choose them, they just pay more- why not?
I don't think it workable to not have fast food outlets near schools but you can stop pupils leaving the school at lunchtimes.

it's so easy as well - i used to lightly boil the apple to mush use the strained water/juice to add to water for flavour and faux juice, add the apple to natural yoghurt. takes minutes and costs next to nothing.

now if parents knew the crap that was in the most basic things they were encouraged to give to kids and facilitated to do simple things like this then that goes forward into an interest in what's in food and what to feed their kids and maybe into what is in their own food.

putting extra money on coke and making it harder to get a takeaway is just punitive stupidity that brings out the rebellion in people - it's natural human nature.

It isn't just poor uneducated people who are overweight.There was a report recently that showed that middle class parents in Leeds had more overweight kids than poorer parents.

We all need help repackaged food which most of us buy from time to time.

Something really needs to be done however inconvenient to us as individuals.Many of these proposals could go someway to help.None would work on their own and there would still be work to be done but it would be a start- a very good one.

Totally agree with the trans fat and high fructose syrup posters.Wasn't so long ago I had a roastingfor criticising high fructose syrup as several posters thought it was just a fruit derivative.We are all often duped by food manufacturers-even highly educated MNers!

Hey, cuppa, nothing wrong with fried chicken..or even (decent) chocolate ad a treat. Sweets/white bread complete junk tho, zero nutritional value, not "food" at all.

Hear, hear, Swallowed! Kids far better off with natural, full fat food and ideally water/milk to drink with v occasional juice.