One of the headline stories over at The Guardian this morning was a call from Doctors to tax sugary drinks at 20% (Mexico currently has a tax at 10% and has seen a 6% fall in consumption since introduction). This government (and when in coalition) has shown it has no interest in taxing in such a way. It flies in the face of the ideology of the Conservative party (for the good or bad).
While government ministers did say before the election that they are looking at measures to tackle obesity, no such measures were announced in the budget last week. Every week more and more statistics are released which are becoming alarming about the rate at which we are becoming obese. Obesity is a complex problem I admit, however government departments should be working together to tackle it.
We need health, education, justice and the treasury in unison to combat this epidemic. The NHS is woefully unprepared for what is coming in my own experience of seeking treatment, children need to learn the lesson of food while young, prisoners come from a background of poverty usually therefore more likely to be obese and we need to introduce taxes to contribute to the cost of all of this. Unless government is prepared to work together on this issue then we will all continue to get larger and the costs will spiral.
I would propose a modest 5% on sugary drinks and 5% on fat. I would then propose that set levels to come into force by 2018 for fat and sugar in food. I’m sure we are capable of having grown up conversations about what we feel is acceptable. I think in the first instance we should look for 1/3 reduction in sugar to be replaced with natural sweeteners by 2017. Sprite and Coke Life have already taken these steps with little impact on taste. Imagine the calorie savings if this became standard practice?
We have to avoid a nanny state I do appreciate but in the absence of public awareness of what is being eaten and the enormous cost of educating those already out of the education system on healthy eating, we should look at a combination of methods to both educate and discourage unhealthy eating. Sugar is not the enemy here, cheap, high calorie and processed food is. Bowel cancer is on the rise as well as high blood pressure due to processed meats and added salt. The time to take action is now before we start to see younger generations being outlived by parents and grandparents.
You can read be full Guardian article [here.](http://gu.com/p/4ahgg?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other)
