Should parents with obese children be punished?
Posted: 13 Feb 2015, 08:01Obesity is described as one of the biggest problems facing mankind. The small US territory of Puerto Rico is debating whether to fine parents who fail to get their children to lose weight. But would this work elsewhere?
More than 600 million people, or 13% of the world's adult population, are obese. The rate more than doubled between 1980 and 2014, according to the World Health Organization. The estimated cost to the global economy is $2tn (£1.3tn), including £47bn to the UK.
National and local governments have struggled to address obesity, defined as having a body mass index - based on the ratio of height to weight - of more than 30. They often face accusations of nanny-statism and opposition from food and drink companies if they do so. Attempts have been patchy and experts are divided on what, if anything, works.
In 2011, Denmark brought in a "fat tax" on foods containing more than 2.3% saturated fat, but the inflated prices drove consumers over the border to Germany. The policy was dropped a year later and the government cancelled plans for a tax on sugar.
In 2012, France quadrupled the tax on saturated fat-rich palm oil, dubbed the "Nutella tax" because the popular hazelnut spread contained the ingredient.
Voters in Berkeley, California, backed calls for a one-cent-an-ounce tax on fizzy drinks, in a referendum last year. The beverages were banned from schools in New South Wales, Australia, in 2007, but this has sometimes been ignored
MORE:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31417102
More than 600 million people, or 13% of the world's adult population, are obese. The rate more than doubled between 1980 and 2014, according to the World Health Organization. The estimated cost to the global economy is $2tn (£1.3tn), including £47bn to the UK.
National and local governments have struggled to address obesity, defined as having a body mass index - based on the ratio of height to weight - of more than 30. They often face accusations of nanny-statism and opposition from food and drink companies if they do so. Attempts have been patchy and experts are divided on what, if anything, works.
In 2011, Denmark brought in a "fat tax" on foods containing more than 2.3% saturated fat, but the inflated prices drove consumers over the border to Germany. The policy was dropped a year later and the government cancelled plans for a tax on sugar.
In 2012, France quadrupled the tax on saturated fat-rich palm oil, dubbed the "Nutella tax" because the popular hazelnut spread contained the ingredient.
Voters in Berkeley, California, backed calls for a one-cent-an-ounce tax on fizzy drinks, in a referendum last year. The beverages were banned from schools in New South Wales, Australia, in 2007, but this has sometimes been ignored
MORE:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31417102